The Other House
by The 21st Century Pendragon
Summary: Lincoln encounters the newly moved Lark family that coincidentally contains ten female children. As he slowly accepts them, Lincoln has to choose: his sisters or the Lark's? Wouldn't trade them for the world, huh?
1. Chapter 1

It is another fine Saturday morning for Lincoln, as he picks up the family's package from the local postal office. Apparently, he wants to pick up their postal, instead for the mailman to deliver their parcel. It is a good practice for him to claim the packages and deliver it back to the family.

"Nothing like a Saturday morning to deliver today's mail," Lincoln narrates to the readers and browses through the contents of their parcel, "Let's see. 'To Lori'. 'To Lori'. 'To Lori'. Ahh, here's one for me." He then tears the letter addressed to him and reads it, "Let's see. It's from my pen pal in Athens. 'I like how you family is. Please send me tips how to be you.'" Lincoln mildly smirks at this letter. "Well, never thought anyone would actually ask me for tips."

The 11-year-old then spots one more letter addressed to him and reads its contents, "Oh, this is from Phine…as from Danville, saying that 'it is good to know that I'm happy that I live with ten sisters.' And even says that if there is a chance I can trade my sisters for his sister." Knowing this is a joke, Lincoln snickers at this but gets back to his train of thought. "This is hilarious. Hehe. Well, joke or not, why would I trade my beloved sisters? Sure, there are times that I get fed up with them. But I still love them. Wouldn't trade them for the world."

Just as Lincoln says his assurance, he stumbles by the once vacant house, which is now occupied by a newly moved family. Lincoln can hear commotion coming from the house, a trope common to new movers.

"Lacy, can you tell Lani to stop horsing around?" a fatherly voice is heard.

"But dad, I'm trying to get Lexi off my new room!" a squeaky female voice is perceived. Then, there came mess commotion from the rooms, "Lexi, will you stop messing my books? I organized them Dewey decimal arrangement."

With that kind of commotion, Lincoln sneaks from the fence to check the new family in their backyard. What he sees is nothing out of the ordinary, as he witnesses them as a rowdy family, like the Loud house.

A mother is trying to tend the care of the baby.

An older sister is texting or browsing on her smartphone.

One preppy sister is being compulsive on arranging the house for her perfect selfie shot.

One chubby sister is forced to do the menial chores on moving the family's belongings to their new house.

Another sister is pestering her sister with glasses and sends her chasing, while two sisters have to dodge them.

And one more sister is chasing her pet gerbil which has been wondering around.

Lincoln then witnesses the patriarch of the family and a much older sister about to carry a couch to the house. The fabric-covered couch is too heavy for the two to bring inside that they stop at one step to the porch.

"Got a grip there, honey?" the father, who has long blond hair and is dressed in a green-and-white plaid shirt, blue necktie and brown trousers, asks.

"Pushing from down here, dad," the older daughter, who has short red-violet hair and is dressed in a black sleeveless top and cargo pants, replies.

Suddenly, the rowdy sister mentioned a while ago (who was chasing after her gerbil) passes through them by bouncing from the couch towards the house.

"Lani, will you stop horsing around. We're trying to move the stuff," the father commands his daughter.

"Sorry dad! Trying to put Jeff back to his cage," the rowdy sister replies hectically. Then, commotion of porcelain and glass can be heard.

"Did he just rammed through our stuff?" he utters, as more commotion is heard. Because of that, the father leaves his daughter to push the couch and goes help his rowdy daughter to catch her pet gerbil. "That does it. I'll be back in a moment, Lois."

"Dad?!" the older daughter reacts tetchily. She then gives out all her force to push the couch. "Glad I warmed up before moving day. Or else, this would be torture."

Seeing this, Lincoln offers to help. "Hey, you need a help there?"

"No, thanks. Got my full grip," the older sister replies without facing to Lincoln, "You better stay back."

"But I can help," Lincoln insists, "Let me he…" But he gets knocked down as the older sister accidentally (and unnoticeably) elbows him as she pushes the couch to the porch, securing it there.

The sister catches her breath from the heavy lifting and utters, "Aughhh…that's a relief." She then notices Lincoln at the steps, heeding from being knocked down and races to him. "Ohh, sorry, sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Lincoln assures, "Just got hit in the nose."

"You sure you don't need an ice or something?" she asks in concern.

"Yeah, should have listened to you," he replies.

"Well, if that's the case," the older sister continues, as she lends a hand for Lincoln to get up, "Hi, I'm Lois. Lois Lark."

"Lincoln Loud," Lincoln introduces himself, "I live next door."

"Oh, new neighbor?" Lois says, "Never knew a new neighbor would actually lend a hand for help. Well, there's not much to see in the Lark family, for now. We just got here this early morning. So, we have to move our stuff inside." As Lois points to their new house's interior, she spots the couch still unplaced in its right spot. "Speaking of which, have to place the couch inside."

"Wait, let me help you," Lincoln offers his help to her.

"Nahh, it's fine. I can do this," Lois replies.

"Come on. I insist. And besides, I don't want anyone's first impression of their new home would be 'heavy'," the 11-year-old stresses with a smile of assurance.

Realizing he can be trusted of his help, Lois has Lincoln take the front of the couch to carry. They start moving the couch through the door to the inside.

"Just move it right there," Lois commands Lincoln as they are hauling the couch to its desired position. After doing so, the two rest in the couch.

"Well, that's a relief," Lincoln utters.

Lois then offers their visitor their signature delicacy. "Velvet cookies?"

"Cookies? Thanks."

"Go on. Help yourself. It's a special recipe of mine. Need extra bucks for my dance workshop."

As Lincoln munches a piece of the cookie, he begins to reflect his new neighbors, who are as rowdy as they are.

"Really? No wonder these are delicious," Lincoln praises Lois' cookies.

Lois chuckles at Lincoln's compliment. "Why thank you. Just go on. They're fresh from San Francisco."

"Wait, you guys came from San Francisco?"

"That's right. Dad got recently assigned here in Royal Woods, and mom lost her job. So, we all have to move here."

"Must be hard with the move, huh? Having to leave your home and friends behind?"

Lois then looks back at her family, who are doing their various businesses, majority of which involve sibling chasing. "Yeah, it's hard. But if we as a strong family, we can carry our burdens away," she utters.

Abruptly, her mom calls her from a distance, "Lois, done with the couch? If you are, I need help in carrying Lulu's stuff. She needs a change of diaper."

"Well, duty calls," Lois replies before she is about to head to her baby sister's room.

"Yeah, me too. Have to deliver the mail back to my family," Lincoln follows.

"Thanks anyway, Lincoln," Lois expresses her gratitude with a handshake to Lincoln, "Nice to have you here. Oh, and bring the cookies. It's yours. It's the best I can do to thank you in return. And don't hesitate to come visit us. You're always welcome in the Lark house."

"Wow, thanks Lois," Lincoln replies.

But before he walks out, Lincoln sees a wall where the picture frames of each current family member are erected. He then learns that his new neighbors, the Lark family, are composed of a father, a mother, a barrage of pets (including a dog, a cat, a parrot and the aforementioned gerbil) and, in sheer amount of coincidence, ten female children.

"Ten sisters?" he utters.

As he goes back to his own house, Lincoln decides to relay the news of their new neighbors, starting with Lori. "Lori, Lori!" he tries to call out his sister, but as usual, she is at her phone talking to Bobby.

Then at his third call "Lori!", she finally responds, "What is it Lincoln? I'm busy on the phone!"

"Lori, we got new neighbors next door," Lincoln announces.

This makes Lori drop her phone in immediate fashion and race to the window to witness their new neighbors. In that signal, she presses the "Code 12 Alert" button from the wall, which has the whole house in full red alert, apparently. Every Loud sibling stops what they're doing and proceeds to the window to see the newly moved Louds. All are at hubbubs with each other, as they discuss of their next door movers.

"What can you get Lisa?" Lori inquires of her sister, who is spying from her infrared periscope.

"Subjects are currently in commotion," Lisa relays her observations. "We have an untamed child, a perfect representative of the present generation, a juvenile on the run from an uptight woman with an eye defect. So far, that's all I have."

Lincoln them shares his thoughts to the readers, "You may be wondering why we are on immediate alert after we have discovered we have new neighbors. Well, let me lay you a report of the Loud House history with new neighbors."

Without giving too much detail, here is a sum of the Loud family (or specifically the sisters) to new occupants in their neighborhood:

Subject #1: Carla: Moved from New York City, New York, this 10-year-old expected happier things, but as the Loud siblings welcomed her, Lisa interrogated her with rude comparisons of Michigan and New York, making the subject rather offended yet scared of Lisa's wide intelligence. This made her family move out, again.

Subject #2: Billy: Moved from Salt Lake City, Utah, this 14-year-old is too conservative (presumably due to his religion) that, as he got confronted by the Loud siblings welcoming him, he fainted at their presence. This led to his wishes to move out to another suburban neighborhood. Thus, this made his family move out, again.

Subject #3: Sheen: Moved from Topeka, Nebraska, this 8-year-old girl is a courageous child prodigy. As she met the Loud siblings, Lucy constantly appeared out of nowhere; at her third appearance, Sheen was left traumatized, reverting to her cowardly ways. This made her family move out, again.

Subject #4: Sandy: Moved from Austin, Texas, this 12-year-old aspires to be a leader. But he was given a rather stereotypical welcome from the Louds, who are donned in cowboy suits. Then suddenly, a prop horse (which was a real horse) kicks him away, leading the Louds to blame it on Leni. This made his family move out, again.

Subject #5: Jamie: Moved from Jacksonville, Florida, this 13-year-old is a sports enthusiast, though not an athlete. But when Lynn hears about this, she straight up placed her as her sparring partner for her practices. Of course, Lynn went overboard that Jamie wanted nothing to do with Lynn or sports. And this made her family move out, again.

Lincoln then concludes his statement, "As you can see, we have a bad history when it comes to new neighbors. We wouldn't be called 'Loud House' for nothing." Then he goes back to his sisters' discussion.

"Based on the heat signatures and physiological locomotion, our subjects composed of two parents and ten sisters," Lisa notes.

And in unison, the sisters utter, "Ten sisters?"

"What can we do?" Luna asks.

"I know how. We can take them to the streets and challenge them to a duel," Lynn suggests.

"A duel of what?" Lori inquires of her sister.

"How about that we become super nice to them, then show them who's the real boss in this neighborhood," Lola advises with dignity.

"I can only say 'neigh' to that. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan jokes.

"No soul can be spared on first impression. They are predictably puritan," Lucy utters sulkily.

"But what if they come here to stay away from the heat that makes them purely tan?" Leni replies vaguely.

"I can give them a tour to my underground shelter of fun creatures," Lana proposes.

"Negative, Lana. And who would be interested on witnessing your fantastic beasts and where to find them," Lisa wisely cracks her. "Besides, they might be a sorority or something."

"No guys wait, let's give a chance to welcome them with open nice," Lincoln openly suggests, "They might be nice. I went to their and met one of them. And they're really nice."

"Is that so?" Lori confronts Lincoln, "Well, if that's what you think, why don't you offer Mrs. Goodman's for us?" The older Loud sister then gives a box of chocolate pie, a staple in the Loud house, for Lincoln to bring as a welcome gift.

"Is this really chocolate pie?" Lincoln asks, "Wait, don't tell me it's one of your pranks Luan?"

"A prank? Hehehe," Luan replies, "Come on. Why would take a piece of their minds? Hehehe, get it?" This makes the rest groan at her.

"Just give it to them Lincoln as a gift from us, the beloved Loud family," Lori says.

And with that, Lincoln heads back to the Larks to give them their gift.


	2. Chapter 2

Lincoln walks to the Lark house to give them the special chocolate pie from Mrs. Goodman's bakery, in behalf of the Louds. Though he is unusre of what may be truly inside the box of pie (higher suspicion that it may contain a prank from Luan), he still proceeds to the Larks. The 11-year-old knocks on the door and waits for a minute.

There answers a chubby girl with short brown hair, glasses, blue polo shirt and pants. (Think of her as a cross of Grenda from _Gravity Falls_ , Sadness from _Inside Out_ and Zooey Deschanel's Bergen scullery maid character in _Trolls_.) She asks, "Yes, may I help you?"

"Uhmm, is Lois here?" Lincoln asks.

"Lois is setting up our baby's sisters crib. What do you need from her? Maybe I can direct it to her, if you want," the girl stutters.

"No, it's okay I'm your next door neighbor," Lincoln says, "We just learned that you recently moved here in the neighborhood. So we thought of giving you a welcoming gift."

When Lincoln presents the box of chocolate pie, the flabby girl cheers at its presence, "Oh, special chocolate pie! Never thought I would get my hands on it since ever!"

"Well, glad you like it," Lincoln remarks, "I'm Lincoln by the way."

Hearing the girl clumsily addresses, "Oh gosh, where are my manners? Sorry. I'm Loui. Loui Lark. Sorry about that. You know chocolate pies are one of the things I can't get over. That includes K-Pop, Smooch and the show _Gilley Gals_ in Netpix."

"Wait, you like Smooch too?"

"Yeah, they're my ultimate guilty pressure. I could just die seeing Jimmy Symonds right now."

"He rocks. I like the why he jives into 'Detroit, You Rock!'"

"That's one of my favorites!"

Loui then realizes that she has to accommodate their guest in their brand new home, "Oh, come in."

As Lincoln enters the house, he notices it cluttered with their stuff. Loui then remarks, "Sorry about that. Trip's been hasty, so we tried our best to sort the whole house at once. So, we all decided to take a break from unpacking."

"Wait, how were you able to move from your home to here?"

"Oh, you wouldn't wanna know."

Loui then recalls the Lark siblings, travelling from San Francisco to Royal Woods. Though the Larks move with two vehicles (their SUV and a moving truck), their stuff is too many that their vehicles occupy all of their stuff, prompting the siblings to get squeezed in the truck. The worst part for her is her younger sister Lexi tickling her nose on most of the duration of the trip.

"Ohh…" Lincoln replies.

"Don't wanna recall that…" Loui utters.

Suddenly, someone descends from upstairs. "Well, well, well, look who's back," a voice speaks to them, which is from none other than Lois.

"Lois!" Lincoln says in delight.

"Guess you wanted more of my special red velvet crinkles…"

"Well kind of," the Loud brother says, "Speaking of which, it would be a bummer to have you empty-handed when you first moved in. So, here's chocolate pie as a welcoming gift."

"Lois, it's chocolate pie!" Loui exclaims.

"Awww, that's sweet of you Lincoln. Thank you," Lois reacts sweetly with a pat on his head, "Oh, I guess you already met Loui here."

"Yeah, he also likes Smooch!" Loui squirms.

"Smooch fan, hey?" Lois affirms, "Then you'll definitely enjoy our company." With this, Lincoln smiles, prompting Lois to propose this, "Speaking of that Lincoln, what you say if Loui introduces you to the family?"

"That would be awesome!" Lincoln responds excitedly.

"Good. Now Loui, why don't you take that pie to the fridge and tour Lincoln around?" the 17-year-old asks a favor to her sister.

"Hey, how come I get to tour him around?" Loui inquires.

"Just because I have to set up Lulu's crib for mom," Lois answers, "Just because she lost the manual back home."

"Really? Do we even use manuals?"

Lois grunts at this slightly, but continues along. "Well, catch up with you guys later. See ya! And hope you enjoy Lincoln!"

"So, can we take a peek on that scrumptious chocolate pie?" Loui insistently asks.

But still unsure of what could be the real contents of the pie box, Lincoln moves the pie away from Loui. "Why don't we take a tour first? I'm sure it would be more exciting if we do this after I meet your family."

However, Loui whines at this, "Awww…" Yet, she is willing to introduce Lincoln to the Larks. With that, they both head upstairs.

The interior of the Lark's house is akin to that of the Loud house, with the siblings' bedrooms on the top floor, and their parents' downstairs. Loui takes Lincoln to the first room, which, by Loud house analogy, is at the same position as Lana and Lola's room. She then states, "Okay first, let me first introduce you to…"

Before Loui can finish, a big splash of water gets squirted on her, making her drop. It comes from her 8-year-old, mean sister Lexi with her water gun. Lexi is the typical bully that is a common trope. Think of her as a cross of Helga Pataki, Vicky from The Fairly Oddparents and Cindy Vortex from Jimmy Neutron. And she has the voice of Tara Strong in Ben 10. Physically, she has curvy blonde hair and a beautiful complexion. She is wearing a pink blouse top, yellow plaid skirt and a red hoodie jacket.

"Hahaha! Got ya, Lou-chubs!" Lexi mocks her sister and runs off to pester her other sisters.

"That's Lexi," Loui says as she gets up with the help of Lincoln. Then suddenly, her 4-year-old sister/roommate Lani shows up to them. She has the size proportional to Lisa's. But personally, she is more carefree. Lani is a playful, adventurous girl, as seen from her knack on both videogames and outdoor games. Think of her like Ellie from Up. She has a short muddy black hair, and wears a red-and-white shirt, an orange vest and cargo pants. Despite being playful, Lani is considerate to anyone. With that, she sees Lincoln helping Loui get up.

"You guys okay?" Lani asks, while lending a hand to Loui.

"Yeah, kinda. Just showing Lincoln around," Loui answers.

"Oh, new visitor!" Lani reacts in excitement, "Hi, I'm Lani!"

"Lincoln. Lincoln Loud," Lincoln introduces himself to the 4-year-old.

"Nice to meet you, Linking."

"It's Lincoln, actually."

"Sorry about my sister, Lexi. She kinda gets hyper when I challenged her to a water fight."

From there, Lexi calls out her sister with determination, "Hey Lani, ready to duel?"

"Oh yeah!" Lani expresses her anticipation, donning a cowgirl getup, as if this is like a Mexican standoff. "Would you excuse me guys?" She then charges her sister with her plastic toy guns, starting an all-round duel.

Their sister, Lyra, senses the commotion from her room. Lyra, a curly blond girl wearing a white polo top, pink necktie and pink skirt, is a very sensitive girl. She tends to get quite obsessive-compulsive to the point she is being a perfectionist. She's a girl conscious about her social reputation, but naïve about her self-esteem. She's like Leni, from her fondness for fashion, but is more capable and thought-provoking than her.

Since Lyra mostly arranged the ornaments in the house (and the decoration in the hall, for this case), she is too cautious of her sisters ruining them. Thus, she warns to Lani and Lexi, "Guys, will you keep it down? And please don't hit the wall. It took me forever to arrange the frames perfectly."

"Hey Lyra!" Loui greets her sister, scaring her, "Oh sorry for that. I want you to meet Lincoln. He lives here in the neighborhood."

"Hey there!" Lyra greets back, "Sorry about our sisters. They tend to get hyper when they play."

"You'll never take me alive!" Lani playfully bellows.

"In your dreams!" Lexi replies in an evil tone as she shoots a series of water splashes, making Lincoln, Loui and Lyra dodge them.

"Sure is chaos here," Lincoln reacts.

"Yeah, but not in my room. Fully furnished," Lyra replies, as she shows her room to Lincoln and Loui. Her room is sparsely decorated, covered partially with teal wallpaper (majority on Lyra's space on the right) and placed with matching bed, drawer and desk. "I know. It needs a lot of work."

"It looks…fine," Lincoln comments.

"Fine? My stuff needs organizing. And I need to keep the interior design consistent. That goes for you too Loui and the rest of our sisters," Lyra adds.

Then Lincoln notices Lyra's other sister/roommate occupying the left side. She is with a pale blond hair, droopy eyes, blue denim jacket, red shirt and jeans. The aforementioned sister is also reading _The Prince_ by Antonio Machiavelli, while listening to her phone. "Wait, who's that?"

"Ohh, Lincoln, I like you to meet Lara. She's the 3rd oldest to us," Lyra introduces her to Lincoln, "Don't mind her she doesn't speak too much. Hehe."

Surprisingly, Lara replies, "I speak whenever necessary, Aryl. I do not need to occupy my already stressed mind with more things to think of." The 15-year-old loner afterwards takes a glance on a bewildered Lincoln. "Oh, sorry for the fuss, kid."

"She needs time," Loui replies hastily as she drags Lincoln away from the room.

Back at Lani and Lexi, since their horseplay has become distracting, their 2nd eldest sister, Lacy, pops from her room. Lacy is the Lark's child prodigy. In physical terms, she has a ponytailed brown hair, wears thick glasses, blue-violet cardigan, magenta polo and pink skirt. She is an academic overachiever, having excelled in her academics, her extra-curriculars (ranging from sports to student council) and her family reputation. She is also the self-proclaimed mother hen among her sisters, though Lois is more capable than her. This is brought up by her control freak attitude and short-temperedness.

Because of that, Lacy attempts to stop her sisters from rough-housing, "Will you two keep it down? I am trying to sort my science books to their respective fields of study," she cautions them but the two ignore her.

With no choice, Lacy grabs them by hand. "Alright! You two scoundrels are dead meat if you don't keep it down!" she warns Lexi and Lani. But they shoot her by the face, letting them loose. The 16-year-old tries to catch them, but she trips in front of Lincoln, Loui and Lyra.

"Are you okay?" Loui asks in concern.

"Yeah, definitely," Lacy replies, "Lousy sisters." She then notices Lincoln. "Hey, who do we have here, Loui?"

"This is Lincoln. He's lives in front of us," Loui answers from him.

Lacy then politely present herself to Lincoln, "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Lincoln…"

"Loud. Lincoln Loud," Lincoln replies, "Pleasure's all mine."

"Apologies for the ruckus here," Lacy implies, "Lani and Lexi tend to be rats in this place." Suddenly, Lexi squirts water to Lacy's face, causing her to get angry and chase her. "Come back here Lexi!"

Loui then takes Lincoln to her own room. There, they see Loui's roommate/sister Lena, swaying to "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers, being played on a. Lena is pretty much the ideal girl hipster, influenced by a particular loved one. She is in a messy hairdo with a ponytail, red plaid polo, dark green shirt, tube skirt and black leggings. Though she can be peculiar, this 11-year-old Lark girl is friendly. Currently, she is sketching the walls of their room. To get her attention, Loui knocks on the door.

"Oh, hey Loui, I see you brought a friend here," Lena says.

"Yes, this is Lincoln," Loui introduces Lincoln to Lena, "He lives right in front of us." Lincoln shyly waves at her.

"That's cool. Care to jam?" Lena invites Lincoln to enjoy the music with her.

"Uhmmm not really into…" Lincoln implies.

But Lena insists, dragging him with her, "Come on! Come on. You don't need to know how to sing or dance to enjoy this."

Lena then guides Lincoln throughout the song as it hits the chorus. The 11-year-old Loud kid hums it, then has his head swaying to the song. "I kinda like this song," Lincoln reacts.

"That's it!" Lena persuades him, " _But I would walk five hundred miles, and I would walk five hundred more_ …"

" _Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door_ ," Lincoln sings along.

Their impromptu jam gets enjoyable when it hits the "Da lat da" part as Lincoln gets so euphoric with the tune. "Man, I never thought I would enjoy this song."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg of the awesome music from last century, my friend," Lena utters.

Loui then interrupts their moment. "Anyway, I'll just take Lincoln to Leah and Lulu. And then we can have chocolate pie!"

"We have chocolate pie?"

"Yeah, Lincoln gave us."

"That's really sweet of you, Lincoln. Chocolate pie is really a great pastime of ours."

"Oh, so I gave the right gift? Hehehe," Lincoln utters with shrugging.

"Well, we'll get back to you Lena," Loui says.

"Yeah, see you," Lincoln follows.

"Smell you later, Lincoln. Hehe," Lena greets him bye. As he is about to leave, Lincoln looks back at Lena returning to her sketching the walls, leaving Loui behind. He then notices her concept art for the wall, which are Domo-inspired doodles.

"This looks cool. I really like the design. So cute," Lincoln praises Lena's doodle art.

"Thanks. I have more where they came from. But they're back at San Francisco," Lena shares.

"Keep it up," he motivates her.

"You know, I also do doodle requests. I got many online, but I decided to stop when that something happened back in San Francisco," she shares sentimentally.

"What? What happened?"

"Nahh…it's nothing." Lena says this with a slight shrug and denial on her face.

Abruptly, a girl with a long, straight black hair, green dress and earrings shows up at Lena's door. It is the other Lark sister, Leah. Leah is a 6-year-old aspiring artist. She does artworks, crafts and paintings. Aside from art, Leah plays several instruments, like the piano, violin, harp, guitar and even drums. She is the most gentle, peaceful and polite among her sisters.

"Hey Lena, can I please borrow your paintbrush if you are not using it? Need it for my oil painting Lulu's space," Leah asks courteously.

"It's by the case. Near the color palette," Lena directs, "Oh by the way, meet Lincoln. He's our neighbor."

"Nice to meet you," Leah introduces herself, "I'm Leah. Great to have you here."

"That's so sweet of you," Lincoln compliments.

"Just thought of hoping to brighten someone's day," Leah reacts.

Then suddenly, Loui bursts from the door and broadcasts, "Guys, I can't find Lulu find anywhere!"

"What?!" the sisters in the room shout in unison.

"She's not in her room," Loui addresses, making them rush to Lulu's room. Lulu shares a room with Leah, in the same way Lisa shares with Lily. However, since they are newly moved, their stuff are still cluttered everywhere, and their furniture are partially set. What are only left in the room are Leah's bed and baggage, and Lulu's baby mat.

"Where could she be?" Lena wonders.

"Guys, have you seen Lulu?" Loui inquires of Lacy, Lexi and Lani who stopped fighting to search for their baby sister. Lara and Lyra also join in the search.

"No sign of her," Lani tells her sister.

"Who could have seen her lately?" Lexi wonders.

"Ah-ah! It's surely Lois. She must have irresponsibly left Lulu at her room," Lacy suspects.

Lois is able to hear her accusations, as she gets back upstairs. "Did I just hear my name?" Lois asks.

Then Lacy points the blame on her, "You're the one who supposed to look after Lulu in her bedroom!"

"Well, apologies for trying to assemble her cradle for mom," Lois defends.

"You and your maternal roles," Lacy accuses further.

Lena afterwards notices a trail of drool on the floor. "Guys, check this out!"

"Woah, now this is a trail to blaze!" Lani reacts at the sight of a suspected trail, left by Lulu. She then discovers it leading to their towering stuff still on standby for unpacking. The Lark sisters are amazed at the amount of stuff they brought to their new home but worried if ever Lulu crawled to their mountains of stuff.

"Oh no! Lulu went over there?" Lani reacts.

"I told you guys we should have organized our stuff as planned as we a…" Lyra points out.

"Shut up, Lyra!" the Lark sisters shout in unison.

"No wait, Lyra's right," Lincoln defends, making the sisters utter "What?" He then continues, "If we can organize your stuff, we can find Lulu. What do you say guys?" Obviously, Lincoln's suggestion is based on a previous experience he had with his sisters. (Might I recall "Chore and Peace"?)

Having just met him, the Lark sisters are having a hard time accepting Lincoln's suggestion. However, Lois stands up for Lincoln's defense. "Lincoln's right. We need to fix the whole house, all at once; the way Lyra wished it to be."

"So guys, this is for the best and safety of Lulu. What do you say?" Lincoln asks, prompting them to agree with a "Yeah!"

With that, each sister unpacks their stuff, organizes them orderly and arranges their respective bed space. Lincoln also helps in the heavy lifting of the unorganized furniture and appliances. As for the other belongings, they also help in setting them up. After an hour of unpacking their stuff and refurnishing their new home, the group still has not found Lulu. They all assemble back at the hall.

"Well, we tidy it all up," Lacy indicates, "But no sign of Lulu."

"Guys, did someone arranged Lulu's stuff?" Leah asks.

"She might be in one of her bags. Come on girls!" Lois persuades.

They then rush to Leah and Lulu's bedroom to see Leah's room organized but Lulu's space unorganized, with her stuff still piled. The Lark sisters then organize her space accordingly. While they do that, Lincoln notices a stench coming from a room. He opens said room to see it filled with boxes of miscellaneous stuff like holiday décor and old toys. Lincoln inhales the stench once more and presumes it to be fecal matter. He opens the box where the stench came from to discover none other than Lulu sucking a doll. Lulu is pretty much like Lily, only she is 18 months old.

Lincoln then calls out the attention of the Lark sisters, "Guys, I think I just found your sister."

"Lulu!" they all utter in relief, surrounding her to her concern.

"Now Lulu, if you can just drop the doll…" Lacy insists to hand the doll to them, but Lulu refuses.

"It's okay Lulu. You can let it go," Lincoln says sweetly to her, as he rocks her continually until she closes her eyes. He really applies what he learned from his sisters. For him, it is all handy, thanks to his good and bad times with the Louds. Eventually, Lulu sleeps resoundingly, making Lincoln place her first on Leah's bed. Lincoln and the Lark sisters then silently exit the room and proceed downstairs to…celebrate.

"Free cheers for Lincoln!" Leah bellows, making the Larks shout "Yeah!", complete with bursting confetti.

"Glad you're here dude to help us," Lyra says.

"If it weren't for you, we would have squashed our sister with our stuff," Lara adds.

"What she said. But true," Lacy agrees.

"With that, you get to do the honors," Lois says as Loui brings out the chocolate pie, still in the box. Lois then pulls out a cutting knife and hands it to Lincoln.

"You deserve it," Loui says emotionally.

"You know guys, I never thought you would be this hospitable," Lincoln points out.

"Like I said Lincoln, you are always welcome here," Lois reiterates.

And in unison, the Lark sisters shout, "Welcome to the Lark house!"

At that greeting, Lincoln is overjoyed to see a family of sisters welcoming him with open arms. With that, he pleases to open the pie, "Okay!" But as he opens the cover, the chocolate pie suddenly springs to his face. Truly, Lincoln's early deductions are true: This is a prank from Luan.

"Jokes on me, Luan," Lincoln utters as the pie drips.

Though baffled, the Lark sisters laugh at this.

"Now I see why it's special," Loui jokes. Still, Lincoln finds a way to smile at this. And suddenly, he throws a piece to Loui. Lexi then throws another. At that sign, Loui shouts, "Foodfight!" making the Lark sisters take a mold from the pie and throw at each other.

Thus, this culminates Lincoln's first glimpse at the Lark sisters.


	3. Chapter 3

After a fun day with the Larks, Lincoln gets home covered in chocolate from the pie foodfight earlier. He is more than enthralled to meet his new neighbors who turned out to be chaotic like his sisters but nicer than originally thought. As he steps in the Loud house, Lincoln sees his sisters waiting for him by the door.

"What literally took you so long, Lincoln?" Lori interrogates her brother with a serious glare on her face.

"Yeah, and why are you covered in chocolate?!" Lola follows the interrogating with similar glare.

The Loud sisters corner him easily, making Lincoln stutter.

But Luan halts their confrontation. "Hold on Linc, did you give the gift? Did it become effective? Come on Lincoln. Tell us!"

With that, the sisters shift to a sneering attitude, making it obvious that they want to detest their new neighbors, and ask Lincoln intertwiningly if he gave the welcoming present.

However, Lincoln confirms, "I did. But they are not what you think they were. I think they're…nice."

This shocks the sisters, making Lola utter "What?!"

"Come on guys! Can we just once be nice and sincere to our new neighbors?" Lincoln persuades, "I think they deserve more the credit than what you think of them. Can we at least give them a chance and introduce ourselves to them? What do you say?"

Though they are moved by Lincoln's persuasion, the sisters reflect if opening themselves to their new neighbors would be much of a huge personal issue.

"That doesn't still explain why you are covered in chocolate," Lynn reacts.

"Why are you covered in chocolate anyway?" Lola asks.

"Want to know about the chocolate pie prank? It was effective, but we had a foodfight because of that," Lincoln confirms to them.

And out of her victorious flair, Luan hollers, "I knew it! I knew they would fall for it! I knew it! I...never know it would blow that way…"

After hearing such a failed stint, Lincoln goes back into persuading his sisters, "Well guys, what'd you say? Shall I introduce you to the Larks tomorrow?"

With that in mind, Lori answers in behalf of the sisters, "Fine Lincoln. We can do it in the afternoon."

"Hooray! Thanks Lori! Thanks guys! I swear you'll love them!" Lincoln assures happily as he runs through the halls and back to his room. With the sisters left downstairs, they reflect if they should trust on Lincoln's assurance that their new neighbors are not as bad as they seem.

Later that night, Lori assembles her sisters to her room for an exclusive Secret Secrets Club without Lincoln. There, she wants to discuss if they should display their best behavior to their likely rivals.

"I am sure you know why I gathered all of you here," Lori proclaims, "Lincoln thinks our neighbors are nice. How does that ring into your mind?"

"Well, Mr. Grouse is no longer un-nice," Lana addresses with a shrug.

"Aside from Mr. Grouse, Lana. Anything else?" the older Loud sister opens the room for discussion.

"I feel troubled with opening up to new friends, if one of them will be my friends," Lola sneers.

"Can we not forget that we crushed the souls of our previous new neighbors?" Lucy spouts.

"Exactly. Lucy rings my point. We have a bad record with new neighbors. And this one is no different," Lori stresses.

"But what's the problem with neighbors?" Leni absent-mindedly shares, "I mean 'new' means good quality, so I think they could be good."

"What Lori is attempting to elaborate what your perpetual vacuous mental capacity failed to interpret is that we failed to display good behavior that we don't care if they are nice or not," Lisa explains condescendingly to Leni.

"Thank you Lisa for that 'clarification'," Lori says."And that's why we say 'nay' to our nay-bors. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan jokes, making the rest groan.

"But we shouldn't dismiss the fact that Lincoln looked like he had fun with them," Luna shares.

"True, so what can we do?" Lynn asks.

With no other choice, Lori resorts to the painfully obvious option. "Well, we just need to open ourselves to our new neighbors." Of course, this causes for the sisters to complain of how much they cannot stand it. "Guys, just listen! Trust me. I hate to do it as much as you do. But we don't want to ruin Lincoln's expectations. Or even ruin ours. Just we'll get through this. We'll meet our new neighbors and be nice to them, even for a tiny while. And we're done. Okay?"

And in that persuasion, the sisters sigh to agree to Lori's suggestion out of their sheer reluctance.

The next day, skipping through the morning routine of Sunday rest and church, the Loud siblings proceed to the Lark residence. Despite Lincoln in high spirits, his sisters are trying to pose a spirited attitude.

Approaching the door, Lincoln enthusiastically asks his sisters, "Okay guys, are you ready to meet our new neighbors?"

As Lincoln says that, a toy plane suddenly flies from the yard and swoops towards the Louds, making dodge on its path. Lola gets furious by this hasty feat.

"I'll save my temper for later," Lola says while grinning in near rage.

With that, Lincoln says, "Okay guys, I would like to introduce you the Larks," and knocks by the door to have it get opened automatically, which triggers for a horde of dogs and cats to come out, and for them to witness ruckus going inside the house, to the tune of "Jump Around" by House of Pain. All of them are astounded by intensity of insanity inside that they thought they themselves can only pull off.

Abruptly, Lois pops up from behind the door to greet them, "Oh hey Lincoln. Nice to see you again…and your friends here."

"Lois, these are my ten sisters," Lincoln introduces his sisters to Lois.

"Your ten sisters?" Lois reacts. With that revelation, Lois whistles to her sisters for them to stop the entire ruckus and pay attention to her. "Girls, Lincoln is here. And guess who he brought with him."

And at sheer glee, the Lark sisters warmly welcome the Louds to their home. They drag them to the living room with such courtesy and hospitality, with the Larks greeting them "Hi!", that the Louds (except for Lincoln and Lily) can only wave at them nervously.

"So glad guys you could welcome us with open arms," Lincoln expresses his gratitude, "My sisters are so excited to meet you."

"Well, let's get the party started then," Lois initiates, "Girls, why don't you take Lincoln sisters around and show them the true Lark family spirit."

After that, each of the Larks drags each one of the Louds (except again for Lincoln and Lily) to show around the house. Lincoln then has Lily introduce herself to Lulu, the Lark's toddler. As the Loud brother brings his baby sister near to Lulu, their introduction is coordinated with their exchanges in mumbles.

"Poo poo," Lily utters gibberish to Lulu as a way to introduce herself, complete with an offer for a handshake.

"La la," Lulu utters her own gibberish, greeting Lily warmly, to which she happily welcomes. Then both toddlers begin interacting by playing with plush toys.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lois has Lori taste her homemade delicacies in the kitchen.

"Snicker doodles? Ladyfingers? S'mores? Truffles?" Lois asks for Lori to pick a delicacy of her choice.

"Uhmm no thanks," Lori insists, "I am literally on a strict diet."

"If that's the case…" Lois utters, then gives Lori a bowl of homemade yogurt with kiwi and strawberry toppings and walks to the cabinet to prepare snacks for her guests. All of Lois' movements consist of dance warm-ups and body routines, which Lori finds odd.

"Homemade yogurt?" the Loud sister asks.

"Go on. I made that with fresh cow's milk and have it heated, then cooled till it's good for whisking. Then voila." After Lois explained how she prepared her own yogurt, Lori shyly tries to get a scoop of the frozen dessert. "Go on Lori. Don't be shy. Try it."

With that, Lori takes a scoop and feeds it, finding it okay. "It's good. Not bad, but…good," Lori reacts.

"That's the spirit," Lois replies, "Now just hang on there while I find treats for you and your siblings."

"How are you able to make all these?"

"Needed the money for my dance workshops. We are extremely tight in the Lark house. So, thanks to that one baking class back at the West Coast and online tutorials, I was able to bake for my siblings and sell them to my friends. Sometimes I use treats to pacify my sisters."

"Hmph, that sure doesn't remind me of someone."

"So Lori, what's your story?"

"Why is it something you need to know?"

"Come on, Lori. We must have common ground. We are both the oldest. We both maintain strict diets. And we both work at the sidelines."

"You must have known a lot. Did Lincoln told you a lot about us?"

"Lincoln told me enough. He was nice. He even said that despite your mean attitude, you are one of the nicest people he has ever known."

This makes Lori speechless, given the times she has been unnoticeably mean-spirited to her only brother.

"You know, you should at least be grateful that you have a brother like that," Lois affirms, "Me here, I do my best for my sisters, even though I least felt grateful for them. I need to be a mother to them whenever mom and dad are not even. That's the down and up of being the eldest."

Still, Lois' monologue keeps Lori speechless. She is aware that she is not giving out her best as the eldest of her siblings. She thinks that complacency is enough to define her. But right now, the Loud sister realizes she has competition with a direct someone.

* * *

While that is out of the way, Loui takes Lucy to her room, where she shows her geeky material. Lucy takes further notice on Loui's complete set of Edwin stories, mixed in with K-Pop boy bands.

"This is rather peculiar," Lucy monotonously reacts, "How come you can love Edwin and EXO all at the same time?"

"I know right," Loui shrieks, "Just can't help it. Edwin has been a dear of mine for the last four years. But my heart was captured by the cute faces of Xiumin and Sehun and…"

"How dare you fall for Edwin but fall for other men?"

"Well, you fell for a hunk who can transform into a werewolf."

"But I removed that guilt that scarred my heart and renounced my loyalty to Edwin. And no one shall have Edwin but I, for we are betrothed till death do us apart."

"You can love Edwin all you want. But for me, he will always be my angel cuddle-bear, especially when he says that line, 'Never will a thousand years set us apart'. That goes for Xiumin, Sehun and the new Spider-Man. Awwww…"

Hearing Loui's over-the-top fangirling only makes Lucy cringe more. However, she does not display this in front of the chubby fangirl. Instead, she sullenly utters, "You are a scorn to human race."

* * *

Next to the lineup is Leah showing Lola her artworks hung on the wall of her room. Even though the gifted artist is willing to show her artworks to the young beauty queen, the latter finds herself kind of impassive of the artworks.

"This is a mosaic of my own version of the Last Supper," Leah shows her artwork to Lola, "I made this out of raw kernel, sunflower seeds and egg shells."

But Lola dismisses them all, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just show me where this 'fine beauty' you are talking about."

"You are looking at them. They're not my best, since they are displayed back home. But at least, I get to keep the ones I love." Then Leah takes one specific artwork to emphasize her point, "This one has to be the one I love the most. It's a collage of my sisters' photos but is covered with stains. Still I love it because it is so real and keeps reminding of home."

Lola then notices an intentional black smudge that seems to be covering a face on a photo with the Lark sisters on it. "What's with the smudge in the middle?"

"Oh nothing, that's another stain from my pen," Leah confirms, lending an assured smile.

"Whatever," Lola replies, "Now let me show you the real fine beauty." With that kind of boast, the 6-year-old pulls out her ribbon and does a graceful ribbon dance number. Seeing how graceful Lola to her movements, Leah takes advantage of this and brings out her harp to get in tune with Lola's dance. Being a gifted musician with quick fingers to do the trick to pluck, Leah is able to get in harmony with Lola's sharp but sleek steps. And with Lola ending the dance with an elegant landing, Leah applauds.

"That is wonderful, Lola," Leah praises.

"It was nothing. It all takes a gift in ribbon dancing and classical music to accompany it," Lola brags.

"Oh, I was the one who provide the music."

"Wait, you?!"

With that, Leah brings out her harp again and makes an impromptu to convince Lola of her musical talent.

Astounded, Lola replies, "You can play the harp? Wow, that is amazing. You are…amazing."

"Why, I am flattered Lola. Thank you," Leah thanks her back, "You are great too."

Lola only remains petrified by the fact that there is a girl more talented than her.

* * *

While on that, Lara has Luna sit beside her on a chair and read a pocket book of "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee, while she rests by her bed, reading "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. Luna is expecting more activity from the Lark sister who supposed to show her around.

"Uhmmm is this it?" Luna wonders.

"Why?" Lara replies.

"Well, I was expecting more than just touring me around. And I'm not a fan of novels," the rocker shares.

"I showed you around the house and all you need to know. What more do you want to see?" the loner calmly affirms.

"Well, I was expecting, you know, fun. Like 'fun music' fun. Rock music would do."

Then thinking of an idea, Lara suggests, "I just know the thing you are looking for." With that, she takes Luna down to the basement, where Lara switches on her laptop and EDM set and chimes in her own remix of "Animals" by Martin Garrix to Luna. It is now learned to Luna that Lara is much of a dubstep fanatic.

"I am not sure this is my type…" Luna utters.

"You don't need EDM to fit your taste," Lara exposits, leaving her laptop, "You just need to move along with the beat. Come on!" She tries to drag Luna to simply jam, but she is left bewildered.

"I guess you like being a DJ, huh?"

"It started from dad when I saw him do funny sounds on his computer. But when he showed me how to modify those sounds to make you dance, there we go. I was the secret DJ in our old school. Come on Luna!"

As Lara sways into her own, Luna reflects on how much she bear common ground with Lara, with regards to the music scene. Nevertheless, she joins Lara in her jam.

* * *

While that is happening, Lynn and Lexi are competing in an arm-wrestling competition. While not touring around the house, the two are doing various challenges between the both of them as a way to engage among themselves. They already went through raw egg drinking, staring eye-to-eye, ping pong, and even pulling the cheese out of a mouse trap without it snapping. Both of them are at a tiebreaker position. For this time, Lynn currently gets the upper hand, thanks to her built up arm.

"You better quit now," Lynn utters as she keeps her force against Lexi, "Just to let you know, I'm the arm-wrestling champ at school."

"Oh yeah?" Lexi responds, "While I try to wrestle all the boys who get near to me."

"Is that even for real?"

"Hah! You think these arms are built for nothing? It's all from dragging boys down and hitting them in the house. Those scoundrels. Hehe."

As Lexi brags that, Lynn catches her attention on the former's tough girl attitude, causing her to lose focus for a moment. "That seems harsh," she reacts.

And at that moment, Lexi takes advantage of the momentum and drags Lynn's arm down quickly, making the latter collapse on the floor.

"I won! I won! I beat you Lynn Loud! Haha!" Lexi hollers as jumps in joy, while Lynn tries to recover from that fall and her being beaten by an 8-year-old.

"That's…a…good one," Lynn utters.

"Let's go Lynn. I know you won't quit competition. Come on!"

"Wait…" After wearingly uttering that, Lynn rests on the floor, signified by burying her face on it.

* * *

At the same time as that, Lyra takes Leni to her room and shows her various outfits. Leni takes a look at her wardrobe, to which she discovers that Lyra has her outfits organized to specific occasions.

"Wow Lyra, can't believe you have outfits for each season," Leni praises for Lyra's consistent organizing of her clothing, "And I didn't know 'company visits' is a season. I wonder when it falls."

"It isn't," Lyra answers, "But don't go easy on checking out my outfits. I don't want to repeat organizing them."

Leni then pulls out a suit that Lyra has under social gatherings. "Why do you have a suit here? Shouldn't be this under the boys section?"

"Just put it back where it belongs," the 14-year-old insists, then drags Leni to the other part of her room, "Here, let me show you something else." She then opens another wardrobe showing her shoe collection, again, organized to their specific occasion.

Of course, Leni is amazed by this feat, "I can't believe you have these many pairs of shoes."

"Mom handed me the pairs that wouldn't fit her. So, I had them for each event I go to. School dance, concerts, parties, special events, even hosting gigs."

"Wait, you do hosting?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much the sociable in the family. I had a lot of friends back in San Francisco, and often would do hosting for events since I engage a lot. Here…" Lyra then pulls out her phone and shows Leni the latest picture of her circle of friends, with an image of Lyra's face hilariously pasted on the picture, with a stick figure to complete it.

Leni cannot help but chuckle at the photo, "Wow, that just…"

"I know; it was fun back then. But times have to go against your way," Lyra professes but ends up crying.

Leni tries to comfort Lyra with a pat on her bag, but the latter is able to control her tears.

"Thanks," Lyra utters. "Head beads?" Then she pulls out head beads she made herself and wears it on her head. "My new friend," she utters, making Leni smile about it. Lyra then prepares for their pose to do a selfie shot.

* * *

As that is happening, Lena shows Luan her doodles. The 11-year-old compiles all her artwork into an album as part of her portfolio.

"So, what you think Luan?" Lena asks.

Amazed by the extent of Lena's Domo-inspired doodle art, Luan expresses her praise, "Wow Lena, you sure are a handful in drawing. Hehe. Get it?"

"Indeed, I am. I took time in my boring parts of class for doodling," the 11-year-old shares, "I even carved one at my desk for that."

"That truly ain't a s-chool thing to do. Hehehe," the Loud's jokester throws in a pun.

"May I ask? Do your words have to include puns?"

"Yeah! They are so pun to say. Hehehe!"

"Seems you got that from your dad, since I see you throw in dad jokes."

"I know right! What would a comedian be without appreciating her roots?"

"Oh really? Want to know what I got from my dad?" Lena hen shows her Luan a chest filled with vintage items that she kept locked as part of her collection.

"What is with you and old stuff?" Luan asks.

"Actually this supposed to be hand-me-downs from dad. The rest of my sisters tried to appreciate them. But I embrace them. I believe that despite their outdated state, they can still be celebrated. What can I say? Some of us have our own antique personality. Hehehe."

With that intentional pun, Luan laughs along. "That's a good one. Hehe."

"I mean that. Come on. Let me show you more vintage stuff." With that, Lena guides Luan to other rooms.

* * *

Down to the last two, Lani shows Lana her pet gerbil. Previously, Lani toured Lana to her play spots, which includes the bottom of the staircase, the basement, the sandbox and finally her room.

"This is Jeff. I got him when I was two, while he was still a little critter," Lani speaks about her gerbil, "He tends to escape from his cage. I don't why."

"Probably he squeezed in through the bars," Lana deduces.

"Maybe," Lani replies, "Hope he doesn't get out this time." The 4-year-old then places her gerbil back in the cage and gives it bread morsels.

"Sure a sweet pet. I wonder if you have more," Lana wonders excitedly.

"Actually, we have," Lani confirms, making Lana squirm. She then takes Lana to Lacy's room where the family's pet iguana. "This is Garry. He usually does not move, only when it is his lunchtime."

"Oooohh, can I pet him?" Lana asks excitedly.

"Well, I'm sure Lacy ain't looking," Lani affirms, then slides the lid of the terrarium Garry is.

Suddenly, Lacy detects them. "Hey! Lani! What you two think you are doing?"

"Make a run for it!" Lani alerts Lana, giving chase from her uptight 16-year-old sister. As they exit the room, they both slip the rug from Lacy, making her trip and losing her in the chase.

"Be back here, hooligans!" Lacy berates, enraged. "I need to keep a steady eye on Lani and your sister from now on."

* * *

"That's a negative," a voice utters, revealing it to come from Lisa. Lacy takes Lisa to her room as their final destination. They spend most of the time arguing about whose knowledge competence is more valuable to society. While Lisa's expansive knowledge is credible for research, theoretical reasoning and philosophical studies, Lacy's knowledge ranges on practical application and social activism. To bluntly put it this way, it is the pure genius against the academic achiever. Lisa then continues her argument, "The only method to apply disciplinary control to my raucous kinfolk is an incentive salient system. Give a cookie as a reward, and she will follow you."

"While I may apply reward system as part of implementing discipline, it is best to teach responsibility to children, even at an early age. I believe that if we can start teaching the youth, starting from their offspring stages, we can transform them to today's engineers and scientists, as we know it," Lacy retorts.

"Right. That really justifies why you still have basic trigonometry and Finnish literature as textbooks. Your fundamental knowledge is insufficient to comprehend Maslow's hierarchy of needs."

"Insufficient, ey? What do you call experimenting your siblings and inventing contraptions like radioactive Christmas lights, artificial geothermal hair dryers and ectoplasm detectors? Are those even needs, Nobel Peace prize laureate?"

"Hey, I'm not saying they are useful. They are a working progress. At least they are not pending for patent."

"Well, at the very best, I get my inventions to work at school. Have you ever heard of the recycling decomposed organic materials for renewable energy?"

Subtly astounded by Lacy's scholarly competence, Lisa utters, "Touché."

While the Larks tour the Loud sisters, Lincoln is watching over Lily and Lulu, whom he sees are playing with their plush toys. The two seem to be at enjoyable company, making Lincoln smile at how much delighted he is for his sisters to be in tune with the Larks.

* * *

After a while, the Louds collectively gather, having finished their tours from the Larks.

"That was a delightful talk with you, Lois," Lori thanks the elder Lark sister.

"My pleasure. As always, you are always welcome here. Come anytime you want," Lois says.

"Yes…okay…" Lori responds nervously, not wanting to delve more.

"Come on Lily," Lola says as she takes Lily with her, making the latter wave goodbye to Lulu.

Then Lori gives the final express in gratitude, "Well, it's good that you have us here. Thanks Larks!"

"We're glad to have you here Louds," Lois replies, then the Larks bid them goodbye.

As the Loud siblings exit the house, Lincoln looks back at them and thanks them, "Thanks guys! You're the best!"

"Anytime Lincoln. We're here for you," Lois assures hospitably.

And with that, Lincoln follows his sisters as they walk back to the Loud house. He then opens up the discussion.

"Okay, what do you think? Are the Larks great or what?" he excitedly asks, but the sisters give mixed reactions to their encounter.

"They were fine and all," Luna answers, "Lara even. She's kinda quiet but wild inside."

"I gotta say, Leah is amazing," Lola shares, "I don't know…"

"I have to also respect Lacy's academic achievement," Lisa says, "That is a tough endurance challenge."

"So as Lena," Luan follows.

"And Loui," Lucy gets along.

"And Lexi," Lynn follows.

"And Lyra," Leni says, "Wait. Is that her name?"

Lily responds by her gibberish.

"Lani's cool. She was able to build an underground fort under her sandbox," Lana utters.

"Me too with Lois," Lori professes as well, "They're not bad Lincoln. They're just…fine. You can hang out with them."

Lincoln then happily expresses, "Yes! How about you guys?"

But the Loud sisters can only give mixed reactions. But generally, they see the Larks as good neighbors, but not closest of friends.

"You can hang out with them. Don't mind us," Lori guarantees.

"Thanks Lori!" Lincoln then hugs her as part of his appreciation for her assurance. Then swiftly, he rushes to his room.

Though Lori is certain about Lincoln's openness to the Larks, she is rather suspicious to where that is going. Still, nothing yet is going on between him and their brand new neighbors.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Just to recap, to guide you along the story, here are the Lark sisters:**_

 _ **Lois Lark (17 yrs. old) – the aspiring dancer (voiced by Jennifer Hale doing a maturer Cinderella)**_

 _ **Lacy Lark (16 yrs. old) – the academic overachiever (voiced by Hynden Walch in her Princess Bubblegum)**_

 _ **Lara Lark (15 yrs. old) – the social outcast (voiced by Melissa Disney redoing Ginger Foutley in a deadpan manner)**_

 _ **Lyra Lark (14 yrs. old) – the social perfectionist (voiced by Cathy Cavadini lending a meeker Blossom)**_

 _ **Lena Lark (11 yrs. old) – the young hipster (voiced by Alyson Stoner as her character in the "Step Up" movies)**_

 _ **Loui Lark (10 yrs. old) – the chubby fangirl (voiced by Kath Soucie)**_

 _ **Lexi Lark (8 yrs. old) – the mean bully (voiced by Tara Strong as meaner Timmy Turner)**_

 _ **Leah Lark (6 yrs. old) – the talented artist (voiced once again by Tara Strong in a mix of Bubbles and Twilight Sparkle)**_

 _ **Lani Lark (4 yrs. old) – the playful adventurer (voiced again by Hynden Walch giving a deeper rendition of Starfire)**_

 _ **Lulu Lark (18 months old) – the gleeful toddler (voiced by Tara Strong in her usual baby noises)**_

 _ **Now, onto the chapter…**_

After school, Lincoln skips happily for home till he comes across the Lark house. There, Lena calls him from the porch, "Hey Lincoln! Just the guy I need."

"Hey Lena!" Lincoln greets back as he approaches his hipster neighbor, "What you got there?"

"Here's a good ole tape recorder," Lena answers, "Dad gave it to me when I was 5, since he noticed me loving the songs of his generation." She then takes out a mixtape with that label "Gerald x Phoebe: Sweet Years Mix". "You wanna listen?"

"Sure," Lincoln replies as he sits down beside Lena, pulls out his earphones and plugs it to the recorder. He then hands the right earphone to Lena as they both listen to the first track of the mixtape, "True" by Spandau Ballet.

Lincoln soothingly listens to the 80's slow-dance tune that is always in every wedding's playlist. All is peaceful for him. Though, he wonders why Lena would be attracted to such a song.

"You seemed to really love 80's music," Lincoln reacts.

"Does that surprise you?" Lena implies sarcastically, "At least we can argue that it's better than the music we have now."

"Well…kinda…" Lincoln replies.

Lena then decides to open up to her new friend, "Just needed the relief before first day of school tomorrow. Really nervous as the 'new kid' in class."

"You'll get the hang of it," Lincoln assures, "Just remember: the first step for a good impression is show you are impressive."

"Doesn't that sound redundant?" she responds, "For a first impression, you need to be impressive?"

"Well, at least it does not make a bad impression."

"Hehe. I guess I couldn't agree more. Just like what Lyn…Lyn…I mean…Lyndon…B. Johnson said…in his famous speech," Lena suddenly stutters, making Lincoln confounded on what she is trying to say. "You know, seize the day."

"I don't think Lyndon B. Johnson said that," Lincoln clarifies.

"Yeah…hehe…" Lena awkwardly follows with a nervous smile.

Lincoln obviously notices her tense posture that he replies, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, totally," Lena assures, but releases her uneasiness with a sigh, "Not really…"

"Maybe you should go back inside to chill."

"Yeah, totally." After that, the two enter back the Lark house, with Lena taking the tape recorder with while trying to shrug off what she attempted to say a while ago. She realizes that she might bring memories that should not be recalled then. But in a non-sequitur fashion, she asks Lincoln, "You want cronuts?"

With that, Lincoln and Lena chill on the yard by the fence, feasting on a plate of cronuts. The weather is fair for the wind to blow past them, allowing a good moment to bond.

"Man, does Lois make such good cronuts," Lincoln compliments.

"Well, it's her specialty. She made a fortune out of rejected ideas she wants for her Girl Scout troop to do. So, she ought to do it for her own business to pay for her dance workshops," Lena explains.

"That's lucky for her."

"Well, a failed idea doesn't mean it's a failure."

"Well said. You think she can sell again?"

"That…I have yet to know. But I hope she can bake again 'cause she's the best baker among us. Though, she did back for one occasion, but I don't want to talk about it."

"Ohh, why?"

"It's best that you don't know," Lena nervously implies, but instantly reverts to her enthusiastic self, "But you should really try her chocolate pie, with its chocolate filling, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks and the chocolate-filled crusts."

Just saying those details makes Lincoln drool, "Chocolate pie?! Now I wanna look forward to that."

"You will, my friend," Lena says, "Till we can convince Lois to bake again."

Suddenly, Lincoln notices Lani constructing a contraption on the yard, using a Coke bottle (with Coke inside), a bicycle pump and Mentos.

"What is Lani doing?" Lincoln wonders.

"Oh, she's making her own bottle rocket," Lena answers, "She is fascinated with homemade science experiments that she wants to try her own."

As Lani positions the bottle near the nozzle of the air pump, she awaits for the moment to blast it off.

"Okay Lincoln. Just wait. Behold as Lani launches her 6th rocket to date," Lena relays the happenings with dramatic flair, "Prepare for such a wondrous feat in 5…4…3…2…1…"

And upon that, Lani shouts, "Liftoff!" andpushes the pump but accidentally pulls out its handle. Nevertheless, she strikes the piston with a mallet, launching the bottle in high acceleration. The 4-year-old is at awe on her experiment, so as Lincoln and Lena.

"Awesome!" Lani squeals as the rocket propels to the sky, then decelerates in a projectile motion back towards the Lark house's vicinity. And in a matter of coincidences, Lacy happens to open the window from her bedroom that gives the opportunity for the bottle to strike to her bedroom floor. Of course, this frightens Lacy, causing her to get enraged to her sister. "Lani! I told you no bottle rocket experiments! You almost scared the heck out of me!"

"Sorry Lacy! Thought I could use your help, but you refused to," Lani tells her older sister.

"It's because I don't want bottle rockets crashing to my bedroom!" Lacy berates, "Wait till I slug you!"

After she says that, Lacy gets splashed by the reacted cola, causing Lani to hoot over it.

"Errr! You're gonna get it Lani!" Lacy angrily utters as she rushes to her 4-year-old sister and chases after her. Lani quickly evades Lacy, as if they are playing tag. She even pumps air to her face, making Lacy's hair frizzier and driving her angrier.

Lincoln and Lena witness this while laughing.

"Well…hehehe…this ain't the first for Lacy," Lena says, "Last time Lani launched a watter bottle, it knocks some blue paints that spilled to Lacy's pink dress. And Lacy was forced to wear that for a pep rally at school. People called her 'Mystique' that day."

"What happened to her dress now?" Lincoln queries.

"Nahh, we turned it into a rug. Luckily the fabric was insusceptible for scratching. But too bad. A wasted dress, all turned to scraps and used to wipe out bird poo," Lena replies sardonically, "But too bad for her. She is as perfectionist as Lacy, but with a temper tantrum problem. She is smart, talented and skilled, yet. But she tends to get…crabby."

Lacy tires from the chase and walks across the two. "That Lani, troublemaker the 2nd," the 16-year-old overachiever utters, while trying to catch her breath. She then recognizes Lincoln with Lena, "Oh, hi Lincoln! What has you come to our humble abode?"

"Lena invited me in to hangout," Lincoln says.

"Oh good. That's good. Lena needs a friend now," Lacy replies, "Sorry you have to see that. Lani never regards the playground as her suitable option to execute her dire contraptions."

"Anyway, Lincoln and I were just talking about you…and your mishaps," Lena indicates.

"Oh really?" Lacy responds, "You told him about the spelling bee, haven't you?"

"What spelling bee?" Lincoln asks.

"Oh, it was the time when Loui beat Lacy for the first time," Lena remarks.

"Why could she have beaten me at that time, Lena?!" Lacy orates as she tries to control her temper, "It was one mistake. 'Spell belligerence'. But I missed one 'L'. One 'L' I tell ya! One 'L'! Yet Loui stole the title from me. Me! The spelling bee champion. Just by one mistake. How does that make sense?"

At that moment, exactly as Lacy shares his demeanor, Loui happens to walk by. "Hey guys, do you have the cronuts?" she asks.

Hearing Loui's voice triggers Lacy to drag Loui forcefully by the collar of her shirt in anger. "You want cronuts? I will give you cronuts, you champ stealer!"

"Wait, Lacy! Please! Please! I thought we're done with this! Please!," Loui pleads.

Then suddenly, Lacy's emotions shift to a calm one as she notices that she is clenching on Loui's shirt. With that, she quickly comforts Loui from her temper attack, "Loui, Loui, I'm sorry. Sorry for that. Sorry Loui-bear for that. Lacy just got a bad moment. Sorry dear sis."

"It's okay…it's okay sis," Loui says as Lacy hugs her in comfort, "I just want some cronuts."

"Oh don't worry. Here," Lacy offers Loui the plate of cronuts.

"That tends to happen," Lena remarks.

"Oh, Lincoln, you're here!" the 10-year-old fangirl notices.

"Yeah, just chilling with the Lark family," Lincoln answers.

"Great," Loui replies, "Girls, there's something I need to tell you."

With that, Lincoln, Lena, Lacy and Loui have a sit-down session together, where Loui can be able to share her thoughts to her sisters. It is a common thing for the Larks to have a group sharing session with each other. And it is rather something new for Lincoln because he never notices his sisters discuss about truly personal stuff to each other. Or probably that is his assumption, since only girls get to share it with each other without him knowing.

Loui then shares her thoughts, "Okay, there's this super fan in this Edwin fan's club forum. And she's kinda nice. Kinda posting fanmade drawings of my beau. It was fine. Until one day, she kinda…bashed on a post I did about my thoughts of Edwin staying away from Ella. I mean I tried to defend for Edwin but we kinda argued for a long time. And she even threatened that she will find me online. I backed off when she said that. I tried reasoning but she kept bashing." As Loui shares, she starts to shed tears. Lacy then embraces her, in an effort to comfort Loui. "I never felt this hate this way. Others online followed along, but they didn't help."

"Loui, it's okay…" Lacy affirms, "It's okay. They're just grumpy old trolls."

"I don't know what to do." Loui sobs, "I can't even have the courage to go online again."

"There, there," Lena asserts, "It's okay Loui. You can handle it. Just ignore them."

Suddenly, someone approaches them and utters to get their attention, "You can't just simply ignore trolls in the Internet." They four then turn their heads to see Lara behind them, carrying a napping Lani by her right shoulder. "Sorry. Lani skedaddled around the kitchen that had me distracted on finishing my Tumblr post. I tried to look for you, Lacy. I thought you are watching Lani now?"

"Well, I was until I noticed she assembled her bottle rocket set, again," Lacy reiterates.

Lara then gives Lani to Lacy and joins in the group. "Okay, rule of thumb in the Internet, Loui: don't feed the trolls. If you see any opinions that contradicts to yours, it's fine. Everyone is given the freedom to share their thoughts, whether positive or negative. But you can't beat them into the ground. Or else, it will become unstoppable. Trust me, I been there."

"But I already done it. I don't know what I supposed to do," Loui points out.

"Well, deed is done. Just wait for that troll to shut up," Lara advises.

"But Loui has rights. She has the right to defend herself by taking this cyberbullying case to the court. It is a right declared to every citizen in this country," Lacy patriotically argues.

"Yeah, says our forthcoming president, who has nothing but business in his eyes," Lara adds to her argument.

"Well, it's the electoral votes we can blame," Lacy emphasizes.

But Lena pacifies her sisters, "Okay. Okay. Thanks for that argument, Lara. Comfort, Loui, now. Politics, later."

They then shift their focus to Loui, whom they see bawling while wiping herself with a handkerchief. This leads Lara to reluctantly take the initiative to comfort Loui with a hug. Loui leans on her shoulder, wanting the worry to get away.

Lara then utters, "Look Loui. Don't mind them. They have their thoughts. You have your own. But no one can ever take away the love you have for Edwin. Repeat it for me. No one can ever take away the love you have for Edwin."

With that, Loui mumbles, "No one can ever take away the love I have for Edwin."

"Come on, Loui. Speak up," Lara encourages.

"No one can ever take away the love I have for Edwin."

"Come on. Only a fly away can hear you."

"No one can ever take away the love I have for Edwin."

"Go on."

"No one can ever take away the love I have for Edwin."

"Do it with conviction."

"No one can ever take away the love I have for Edwin!"

"Do it for his love!"

"No one can ever take away the love I have for Edwin!"

Convinced of her courage, Lara praises her effort, "That's it sis. Always knew you had such raw power."

"I know right!" Loui replies, "Thanks Lara!" Then she thanks her with a hug, making Lara hug her back. Seeing this overly emotional sight, Lacy and Lena gladly joins in.

"Come on Lincoln! Join us!" Lena invites the Loud brother.

"Uhmm. It's okay," Lincoln replies, "I don't want to bother such tender family…"

However, he gets dragged by Loui, and she embraces him wholly. "Don't be shy. Everyone needs a hug," Loui says.

Though Lincoln tries to release himself, he eventually feels the comfort from the Larks' gesture of siblinghood. There, he realizes he feels secured with the Larks. "Well, I guess I need a hug for now," Lincoln utters. He then shares to the readers, "Never knew that the Larks would be this…close to each other. Just the love I wanted to see."

After that moment, the Larks together with Lincoln bond over a game of Monopoly. Eventually, as sundown hits, Lincoln returns to his own house. But not before being thanked by Lena and Loui.

"Thanks Lincoln for dropping by," Loui expresses her gratitude, "Glad I found somebody to jam Smooch with."

"Anytime, jam Simmonds!" Lincoln replies, ending with both of them hooting and raising their fists in the air, as part of the signature Smooch gesture of appreciation.

"Hey, Lincoln, if it's not a bother to you, can we hangout sometime? Probably after school?" Lena asks.

"Why sure Lena!" Lincoln responds in glee, "I can introduce to Clyde and other people."

"Ahh thanks Lincoln!" Lena gratefully acknowledges her gratitude, hugging him in the process, "Really need a friend I can count on. Now, if there's a way we can contact each other..."

"You can have my number," Lincoln says, "Or I can have yours…"

"Ohh good. Good. Ohh dang, I left my phone in my room," Lena utters, yet Lincoln hands his phone to Lena for her to place her mobile number. After that exchange, they bid their goodbyes. "Well, see you next day," Lena says.

"Yeah, see ya!" Lincoln replies as they both part ways. When Lincoln steps in the house, he sees Lori texting by the couch.

"Where you literally have been?" the elder Loud sister asks.

"I was with the Larks. And it was a great time to bond with them!" Lincoln eagerly remarks.

"That's nice," she replies blandly, "Now you're in charge of the night dishes this month. Mom and dad's orders."

"But Lori…" Lincoln reacts in utter shock.

"Mom and dad's orders," Lori reiterates.

With that, Lincoln drags himself forcefully to the kitchen sink, where he sees piles of dishes waiting to be cleaned and rinsed. Along those dishes are utensils and kitchen equipment that came from last night's fish stew and sweet-and-spicy vegetables. Despite his reluctance, Lincoln starts washing, but not before contacting Lena through his phone via FaceTime. To his delight, she replies…


	5. Chapter 5

On a sunny Tuesday, Lincoln and Clyde walk on their way to school, while the former talks about the Larks along the way. He is so enthusiastic telling of his encounters with his new neighbors that Clyde just takes his words for it.

"…And they have this Walkman cassette player that still works, and a shower in their bathroom that looks exactly like the TARDIS in Doctor Who," Lincoln shares, "They have a lot of cool stuff I have yet to see."

"Seems your neighbors are really that…cool…and kinda retro," Clyde comments.

"I know right. They're really amazing, especially when they bond. I really can feel them caring for each other." "How is that different from your sisters?"

"Let's just say my sisters are too competitive to each other that…yeah…there are moments we understand each other. But yeah, we kind of meddle at times. Meddling is in our blood already."

"I see your point. But you can't disregard them for that."

"I know. But I just need understanding and caring people like the Larks."

Then suddenly, a voice hollers calling out to Lincoln, to which he learns it to be coming from Lena, who hurtles to him.

"Lincoln, glad I found ya before my torture sentence today," Lena utters, trying to catch her breath.

"Oh, Clyde. This is Lena. She's one of the Larks," Lincoln introduces Clyde to his new friend.

"Nice to meet you, Lena," Clyde handshakes Lena.

"Pleasure's mine," Lena replies as she clumsily prepares her stuff. "Sorry about that. Never knew what to bring for first day, so I sought to bring this." She then shows them a makeshift notebook that she assembled herself, complete with paper-made ring binders and calligraphy doodles.

"That's just a notebook," Clyde, mildly amused, reacts.

"Made out of organic materials, recycled paper and my very own hands," she brags, "Though I got this from a cool thrift shop. They had vintage items there."

The bell suddenly rings, signaling for the students to proceed to their respective classrooms. "Well, good luck Lena for your first day," Lincoln wishes to her.

"Yeah, hope so," Lena replies with a nervous tendency.

Realizing that a first day in school would dictate how the rest of the year would work for her, Lincoln decides to guide her. "Say we take you to your classroom?"

Lena then gladly accepts Lincoln's offer and follows them to her classroom. As they arrive, Lincoln notices it to be the star section of the 5th grade batch.

"Well, here's your place," Lincoln confirms.

"Oh well, here goes nothing," Lena utters nervously as she walks to the classroom.

But Lincoln holds her hand unintentionally in the last minute to tell her this, "Just remember Lena, to make a good impression, show you are…"

"…impressive," Lena finishes Lincoln's words.

"Exactly."

"Well, here we go." As Lena opens the door, she looks back at Lincoln. "See you guys after class?"

"Yeah…of course," the two replies. With that confirmation, Lena proceeds to her classroom.

"She's one brave lady," Lincoln utters.

"Kind of unusual for you to regard a friend going to her first day brave," Clyde comments, "But I like it."

Meanwhile, in the supermarket, Lori is searching for vegetarian items to add in the fridge. While at the produce section, someone familiar stumbles upon her.

"Hey Lori!" that someone calls her out, revealing it to be the eldest of the Lark kids, Lois, who approaches the Loud sister with her sparsely filled basket.

Lori notices Lois' presence with casual interest. "Oh, hey there. We met again, neighbor," Lori balmily greets.

"Yeah, need to pick up items for dinner and the rest of the week. Mom and dad will be coming back from a business summit in the city," Lois then glances on Lois' basket, composing of lettuces, cabbages, tomatoes, salad dressing and ten packets of tilapia, compared to Lori's overloaded cart that includes unnecessary items like potato chips and glittered nail polish.

"Gee, that's not…a lot of items," Lori hesitantly reacts.

"Yeah, budget's tight. So we have to prioritize the basic needs first," Lois shares.

"Oh, bummer."

"Definitely. Well, at least, we're still grateful. You should too Lori. You should always be grateful, even with little luck you have."

"Nice advice. But I'm literally lucky already. So, if you would excuse me, I have to pick up cantaloupes and leave to make…dinner." Lori then leaves Lois hanging on the produce aisle.

"Okay nice seeing you. Also, tell Lincoln I said 'hi'!"

Hearing this makes Lori halt and proceed back to Lois, triggering her suspicions towards the Larks. "What is with you and Lincoln?"

"What are you talking about?" Lois asks."Don't try to cross us, Larks. You seem to be so super nice to us, especially to Lincoln."

"Is it a crime to be nice to our new neighbors?"

"No, not at all. Even if I have to literally look over the US constitution. But if you dare cross the line with my brother, you will literally don't like what we're gonna do."

"Lori, just chillax. You're just bogged down with expectations. Don't worry about us. We're not taking you guys for granted, especially Lincoln."

"You better watch it with Lincoln."

"You worry too much, Lori."

Lori gets annoyed by what Lois said, forcing her cart to a slippery part of the aisle and making her and the cart slip to an island of watermelon. Though not karma, Lori believes to be an indicator that their neighbors are their new rivals.

After school, Lincoln and Clyde wait by the swing, contemplating on Lincoln's lukewarm grade he received from social sciences class.

"Ohhh, that is indeed an eyesore," Clyde reacts to Lincoln's C+ grade. "But don't worry Lincoln. Nobody could ever make it through that test."

"Except maybe you, Clyde, with your B+," Lincoln retorts.

"Well, yeah, except me. But that doesn't mean it's the end. There could more ways to recover from social sciences."

Lincoln can only sigh at that far-fetched prospect for his after that, the next school bell rings, sending another horde of students excitedly exiting their classroom and hurrying their way home.

Eventually, Lena spots the two and approaches them. "Hey guys!" she greets them both.

"Hey Lena!" Lincoln replies, "So how's the first day blues? Eyy?"

"Well, it kinda worked…for me," Lena clarifies.

"Why? What happened? Didn't it worked out?"

"Well, you might say that but..."

 _Flashback_

As Lena steps in the room, she notices that the back row seats are occupied and the first to third row seats are vacant. Realizing she has no other choice, the 11-year-old quietly settles on the first row seat that is nearer from the door. She also takes a look at her classmates, who are being their playful and noisy selves.

The teacher eventually enters in the room. She is a scrawny, older woman, presumably in her 60's, due to her wrinkles, her strand of white hair from her brown hair and spectacles. She sits down by her desk to witness her class being unruly, except for a quiet Lena, who is doodling. At that sight, the teacher sounds her triangle percussion for her students to pay attention and greet her, "Good morning, Mrs. Schmidt".

However, Lena does not seem to get the message and continues doodling. This catches the attention of the teacher that she calls her, "Excuse me, young miss."

"Sorry about that Ma'am," Lena responds as she quickly hides her stuff. "I was kinda letting my ideas explode and I was think if I…"

"You must be our new companion," the teacher replies, "Please, step forward and introduce yourself."

As she proceeds in front of the class, Lena keeps uttering "Be impressive" to gauge her confidence. She then opens up to her new class, "Hi, everyone. I'm Lena Lark. I'm 11. I came from San Francisco. My family moved here to Royal Woods for a better life. And I hope I can start one here."

"And I hope you can start it by not drawing during class. It is kind of a distraction when studying."

"Oh, that is doodling, ma'am. There's a difference. And I doubt doodling can be a distraction. I believe that not only can doodling enhance the creative side of the brain, but it can also encourage mental activity. Thus, stimulating motor skills of the brain."

"Thanks for the data Ms. Lark. But we'll have yet to discuss that in human anatomy." Though she thinks her introduction is sufficient, Lena notices some of the girls criticizing and mocking her clothing. "Creative side? Then why you like a dork?" one posh but mean girl mockingly asks her, prompting the class to laugh at her.

Rather than be mopey about being mocked, Lena decides to strike back. "Well, at least I don't look like a tabloid model."

Her classmates hoot on this impending argument. In heated response, the mean girl then snaps back at Lena, "At least I have my clothes bought from H&M and Uniqlo. How about yours? Salvation Army?" This prompts the class to laugh harder.

Confidently, Lena straight up answers, "Yes. And just for you to know, these clothes were from H&M and Uniqlo and were donated their. So, technically, boom."

This causes uproar laughter from the class to the mean girl, who begrudgingly realizes that she lost it to the new girl.

"Okay class, enough. We get what Ms. Lark tries to tell. But we don't need hecklers in the class," the teacher emphasizes chastely, "Are we clear?"

Lena reluctantly nods as she goes back to her seat quietly, while the class try to hold back their laughter. She smirks at this moment, but frowns when she reflects that her snarky attitude caused her to form an enemy.

 _End of Flashback_

"That really was bad," Lena remarks upsettingly, "Should have not been too showy."

"Lena, it's okay. We have our stumbles in the first day. But it's not the end of it," Lincoln tries to cheer up Lena, "Maybe try to be impressive in a way that is good. How about that?" However, this upsets Lena further.

"Seems she's still upset," Clyde comments, then suggests something from Lena's situation, "How about we take her to out extreme spot to lift up her spirits."

"Ooohhh what is this extreme spot you are talking about?" Lena gleefully asks."It's our way to escape from our worries and say 'you don't rule our world'!" Lincoln eloquently says."Hmm. Sounds pretty awesome. Take me there."

"You sure you're up for the challenge?"

"I'm up for it Lincoln!" With that, Lincoln is convinced for him and Clyde to take her to their 'extreme spot', which turns out to be a zipline course from the highest point of Royal Woods National Park.

"I'm up for the challenge!" Lena shouts enthusiastically as she feels her harness get strapped to the zipline.

However, Lincoln reacts otherwise, "Uhmm ironically, I'm not." This is due to that fact that he notices that the zipline features had changed from when they previously tried out ziplining. "Excuse me. Was this lower the last time?" Lincoln asks the zipline instructor.

"We add 5 feet more from its previous elevation," he replies, much to Lincoln's panic, "Don't worry, it's gonna be more thrilling now!"

With that, Lincoln, Clyde and Lena are positioned for their course drop. "On my count, you walk off the platform and just feel the thrill," the instructor dictates, making Lena and Clyde holler in excitement but causing Lincoln to shudder at this sight. And at the instructor's signal, the trio hurtle by the line in a huge drop to the ground. As they stop at the end, Lincoln and Clyde tremble from such a traumatic drop but Lena gets more agitated with this. "THAT WAS AWESOME! I never felt anything like that before Lincoln! Come on, we have the whole day to spare!" Lena urges as she drags Lincoln by the hand, "You too Clyde!"

"Man, that girl's got eagerness in her blood," Clyde reacts as he gets up, "I like her."

The trio then spend the whole day doing any leisure activity in the park (from laser tag to rock climbing) before sundown. It truly takes a hangout for Lena to get over her rather meh first day in school.

As they get back to their neighborhood, Clyde parts ways from them. "Well fellas, it has been a wild day. Sure good one, buddy." He then exchanges fists with Lincoln.

"Not a problem, best bud," Lincoln replies.

"And nice to meet you, Lena. Looking forward to know you more." Clyde then shakes his hand to Lena's.

"Anytime Clydesdale. You sure one cool wingman," Lena says.

"Oh, shocks. It's in my blood. Well, see you guys!"

After they bid goodbye to Clyde, Lincoln and Lena walk back home and stop right between their houses.

"Well, it had been a long day," Lena utters.

"Yeah, well, see ya tomorrow," Lincoln says. But before he can get back, Lincoln hears commotion from the Larks that prompts him and Lena to rush to the house.

"I wonder what's going on in your family," the Loud brother they arrive, the duo sees in the living room Lexi and Lacy holding plugs from appliances and battling out for an electrical outlet.

"It's my turn to have my leisure time, so I'm taking it!" Lexi argues.

"But your leisure time only adds up sound interference that can have the tendency to shake the house's distract me from studying!" Lacy counters Lexi's defense. "So it's better to charge my laptop instead."

"You and your bookworms, Lacy!"

"Well, what's your excuse? Playing videogames?!"

"At least I don't have to meddle with an annoying sister like you."At their expense, they beat each other up. Lincoln and Lena arrive on time to pacify them.

"Okay, Lacy, Lexi, stop!" he persuades, halting them in-between. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Lacy here needs to charge her phony laptop," Lexi explains for her, much to Lacy's annoyance, "And I don't get one. So I just wish to take even just a tiny moment to play my favorite videogame. I never get to play since we moved here."

"Just because it's a waste of time, you doofus!" Lacy defends, "I, at least, have something productive to do, unlike you. So what you think Lincoln?"

"Well, I couldn't agree more to you," Lincoln replies, "But aren't there other outlets you can possibly use?"

"Lois is using the one in our room."

"How about in the bathroom?"

"The bathroom? Why would I want to study in the bathroom?"

"You said you need to charge your laptop."

"Yeah but…"

"Then it's settled. Lexi gets the outlet."

At that conclusion, Lexi gets sneeringly delighted but Lacy fiercely infuriated, "What?! Lincoln?!"

"Hahaha! You heard the Linc-ster!" Lexi brags as she proudly plugs the videogame console, causing it to blackout the entire house, making Lincoln recall one particular case in the Loud house. You might even say the first episode. Or the twenty-fourth one.


	6. Chapter 6

Blackout sweeps in the Lark house, courtesy of Lexi plugging videogame console. Though, no one can blame her for it. The girls settle in making noise to fill in the white noise that occupies the house.

"Okay girls, will you all calm down?" Lacy persuades her sisters, taking command. Their dog, a Golden retriever named Scotty, runs over her in alarm. "Scotty, calm down!" she says to the dog as she holds on to his leash, which causes her to hit on the wall.

"I thought you can take control of us," Lois points out.

"It's a working progress," Lacy defends, "At least it's a progress!"

Lois then blows her whistle twice to take control of the situation and to have the girls routinely calm down and gather altogether. "Okay girls, quiet down," she enunciates, "It seems we have an unexpected power outage."

"Tell me about it," Lena reacts sarcastically, "It's all Lexi's fault."

"Okay, pointing fingers later. Let's just take care of this for now," Lois initiates, "Sound off. 1!"

"2," Lacy bellows.

"3," Lyra voices out.

"4," Lena utters.

"5," Loui follows.

"6," Lexi blandly replies.

"7," Leah joins in."8," Lani sounds off.

"And Lulu's 9 and Lincoln's 10," Lena pronounces, "We're all here."

"Wait, why am I included?" Lincoln asks.

"Duhh, Lincoln, you're one of us now," Lena explains.

"That's nice of you, Lena, but…" Lincoln replies, but Loui spontaneously hugs him out of that fact.

"Ooohh, Lincoln's one of us now. You'll really love us bro," Loui assures.

"Thanks Loui," Lincoln expresses, "But I can't help the fact that there's something missing."

"Your own bedroom?" Lani answers.

"What?! No," Lincoln clarifies, "It's just someone is missing among us."

And out of nowhere, Lara pops out behind them and responds, "Like me?", scaring Lincoln and the Lark sisters in the process.

"Yeah, you," Lincoln confirms, recovering from the unexpected jump scare.

"Where have you been Lara?" Lacy asks, "You almost scared us to death!"

"Haven't I told you I would be in my room all day?" Lara replies.

"Of course you do, always. You know, social isolation will cause a rift on your adaptive process to interact with other social beings. As we know, _Homo sapiens sapiens_ are designed to socialize."

"I socialize when I need to."

"You call blogging socializing?"

"Okay, will you intellectuals talk about this later and we need to handle the blackout now? For Pete's sake," Lois calmly insists, "Anyone has a flashlight app in their phones?"

"Me! I got one!" Loui says as she attempts to open the flashlight on her phone. However, this is the first time she will use the app. As she opens the app, she faces the flash lens near her eyes, causing her to get dazed by the sudden light flash and drop her phone. Thankfully, the drop just turns off her phone.

"Augghhh! Loui!" Lexi blats at her sister.

"Sorry," Loui responds in regret.

"Okay, anyone else?" Lois asks but gets no answer from her sisters.

"Let's just use our phone screens instead," Lacy suggests.

"Good thinking," Lois replies, "You heard her." And with that, the Larks bring out their mobile phones and switch it on for a long duration to provide light.

"Should we call the electric company about this?" Lyra asks.

"Nahh, if they would be judgmental to a bunch of newbies in a new city," Lexi points out, "Nothing new about it. There was once a time when the new school back home sent the electric company to fix the power source. But they complain about the school being newly fixed and the fuse box being old school. What jerks!"

"Not everyone is like that Lexi," Leah defends.

"Don't put your hopes high on that, sweet Leah," Lara adds.

While the sisters are sharing their own thoughts that somehow turns into a debate, Lincoln think about what Lexi is saying about a fuse box. He then recalls the previous time he and his sisters handle a blackout in the Loud house and realizes that this could be a perfect time to apply what he learned from his sisters.

"Guys, I have an idea," Lincoln opens up to the Larks.

"Oh goodie, what is it Lincoln?" Loui asks.

"Sure is not one of those hare-brained ideas that will just fail?" Lexi reacts pessimistically.

"Shush, let's hear what he got," Lani says."It's just simple. We just need to find the circuit breaker, switch its lever and maybe we can restore the power," Lincoln shares his plan.

The Larks cheer at this plan, but Lara is skeptical. She shares her deductions, "Okay, that's a possibility. But what if it's a short circuit hazard that maybe came from the house's power source or Lexi's stupidity?"

"Hey!" Lexi reacts over hearing her name.

"We just need to find out," Lincoln answers.

"Okay, I know suburban homes have their fuse boxes installed either at the attic or in the basement," Lacy deduces, "But for this case in Michigan, it might be in the basement."

"Well, let's check it out," Lincoln encourages. After laying down his plan, the 11-year-old opens the basement door to reveal it to be untouched since the last family that occupied the house. Cobwebs with house spiders greet Lincoln when he opened the door. A soft chill creeps on his feet. And the abysmal darkness in front of him is a fitting greeting from the scariest part of the house that sends each of the Larks crept out.

"Oohhh my, that is legitimately scary," Lyra reacts, hiding behind Lara's back.

"Boo!" Lexi whispers to Lyra's ear, scaring her and making her cling on Lara, like the way Scooby-Doo does to Shaggy, and vice versa.

"Lexi!" Lyra utters.

"Hahaha, you should have seen your face. So much in the moment. Your eyes just wide open like 'Ahh!'. Hahaha!" Lexi mocks her sister.

As vengeance for her prank, Lara places Lexi above Lexi. "Want me to drop her to you?" the loner sister presages her younger sister.

"No thanks," Lexi replies.

In the meantime, while staring at the darker part of their surroundings, Loui recalls the times when she got traumatized from long stretches of darkness in her room that makes her unable to sleep. This causes her to embrace Lincoln to cope up with her fears.

"I can't handle…the dark!" Loui exclaims.

"Okay Loui, just slow it down," Lincoln says, in response to her hugging him tight.

"Ohh sorry." Loui then releases Lincoln.

"Loui-bear, are you okay?" Lena asks.

"Nahh…just painful memories, haunting me like a ghost," Loui shares while gradually sobbing. Lena comes to her aid by clinging to her shoulder.

Lincoln then sees the Lark sisters doing their own ways to cope up with a blackout. A special note for him is seeing Lulu tugging his pants, asking for him to carry her. Realizing the Larks are not as different as his sisters (though that could be rectified later), Lincoln initiates his plan. "Guys!" he calls out to the Larks to get their attention, "I know this may be…a dark turn for your first days here in Royal Woods. But don't you worry. You have someone by your side, a junior cadet of ARGGH, or simply known as Academy of Really Good Ghost Hunters. And I will save you Larks!"

The Lark sisters then cheer for Lincoln. "Okay Lincoln, just tell us what to do," Lani says.

"Okay, I need a light source, a device that has a night-vision and a towel," Lincoln requests.

"Good, we got it covered," Lois confirms, as the Larks give him a phone with a brighter screen, a toy night-vision goggles and a towel.

"What's the towel for?" Leah asks.

"For emergency self-defense," Lincoln answers.

"Ohh. Got it," the 6-year-old utters.

Lena then approaches Lincoln with a flashlight. "You'll need someone with you."

"Are you sure you wanna go with me?"

"Why wouldn't I, for my new best friend?" Lena assures, guaranteeing that Lena can be trusted.

As they had their gear prepared, Lincoln and Lena head to the basement, as if they are cave explorers-turned-rescue workers.

"Good luck you two. I salute to the very end," Lani proudly states.

"Relax, they're just gonna switch on the circuit breaker. Nothing life-threatening about that," Lara reacts to Lani, dragging her back.

"We'll call you when we need help," Lena says, then follows Lincoln to the pitch black basement. Their light sources (the cellphone and the flashlight) provide little to guide their way, so they opt to flash the basement floor to find their way. The floor itself is murky and dusty. Bugs scatter around. Debris like leaves, dust and other wastes surround the floor. And the pipes leak and make creaking noises.

"This sure is one old basement," Lena reacts.

"Tell me about it," Lincoln follows, "This house wasn't occupied for months or even years. You can tell by that calendar." Lincoln then points to a wall, which Lena then flashes to reveal a torn 2014 calendar.

"Oh, this is just becomes interesting," Lena utters.

Suddenly, a horde of bugs block their way, prompting Lincoln to bring out the towel and use it to whip the bugs away.

"That will do," Lincoln utters.

"Well, it's not first time I see bugs in a secluded room. There are more interesting features than that," Lena shares.

"You find haunted rooms interesting?"

"Well, sorta. I have a knack for unearthing mysterious things from the past. Just to know more about the history. Kinda my thing." Learning that she has a fondness for mysteries, Lincoln smiles at this. "Well, I guess you can unearth the mystery of why you haven't check the basement once you moved here."

"Nahh, we didn't bother to check the basement. We kinda got busy with our new rooms."

"Okay, why not your parents check it out?"

"Same thing. They just took a peek."

"Really? They couldn't be interested in checking out the basement?"

"Well, they're kinda busy, you know. Dad has to do a lot of talks, and mom is applying at the hospital."

"What do your parents do?"

"Dad's a motivational speaker while mom's a child therapist."

"Seems like a mouthful of jobs."

"Really. They were fun for them, once. Now, I don't know. How about you?"

"Well, dad's an executive in his company, while mom's a dentist."

"Oh good. I kinda have a weak spot with dentists."

"How come?"

"Had my checkup once when I was six. The dentist back then was really cute that I had a crush on him. Until that day when my two front teeth were loose. So, without knowing, the dentist just pulled both of my teeth. I really cried that day that I threw my ice cream cone. I felt betrayed that the cute dentist that I like became a living nightmare. Then it stuck to me: you can never trust dentists, whether they are cute or not."

"That's kinda harsh. Not all dentists are bad. You can trust my mom."

"Hope so, if I won't get reminded that scary day."

"Come on, what could be scarier than that trip to the dentist?" As Lincoln shares, he points the flashlight to an abandoned chest freezer to with a horrifying clown mannequin, which scares both Lincoln and Lena that they embrace each other as they scream.

"Lena? Lincoln? Are you okay down there?!" Lois asks in concern after hearing them screaming.

Hearing Lois' hollers causes Lincoln and Lena to snap out from screaming and to let go off each other's embrace. Never does the two ever experience such an awkward moment that makes them both blush.

"Lincoln? Lena? Did you hear me?" Lois hollers again.

"We're good. It's all good," Lena answers.

"Are you sure? Cause I heard screaming."

"No, it's good." Lena then looks back at Lincoln to see his flushed face. Basing on the extent of their friendship, this is truly an embarrassing moment for the both of them. "We…should…continue…" Lena says.

"Yeah," Lincoln agrees, "Let's just talk about it later." Then he realizes something, "Wait, I think I saw something from the clown." He then points the flashlight back to the clown mannequin, which still freaks them out, and towards above it, which reveals the fuse box and the circuit breaker.

"Bingo! We found it!" Lincoln utters as he and Lena approach it.

"Now, the only thing is how can we reach that box," Lena says, pointing out that the chest freezer in front of them, seeing that it is blocking their way.

With no hesitation, Lincoln volunteers to reach for the fuse box. He puts the night-vision goggles back on and steps at the edge of the chest freezer. Since the freezer is off, its cover is open and the scary stuffed mannequin is blocking its way, the 11-year-old hesitates as he tries to balance himself.

"Lincoln! Are you sure you can do this?" Lena asks, nervous about Lincoln's stunt.

"No, I guess so," Lincoln answers indecisively. He holds on to the upper edge of the fuse box to maintain balance and get a closer reach to the circuit breaker. Eventually, he reaches it and switches the circuit breaker, but no power generates. He tries to switch it again and again, to no avail.

"Lincoln, what's going on?" Lena asks.

"The power won't come back," Lincoln answers, "It supposed to come back."

After several attempts on shifting the circuit breaker lever, he decides to check out the fuse box to discover that the fuse got into a short circuit. He tries to budge the broken fuse out of its receptacle, but when he does with a strong force, he falls to the chest freezer, causing the cover to shut him and the stuffed clown and mannequin inside the chest.

Having witnessed this, Lena rushes to Lincoln and tries to open the chest's heavy cover. "Lincoln! Lincoln! Are you okay? Lincoln, please speak to me!"

"I'm okay, Lena," he answers from the inside.

"Don't worry. I will ask for help. We're getting you outta there in no time!" Lena assures then rushes to get help from her sisters.

"Okay, take your time, while I stay with Mr. Creepy Bozo here," Lincoln utters as he cowers on one side while trying to face away from the frightening mannequin. "Well, you know what they say, learn to face your fears. Maybe this clown is not that scary." He then puts back the goggles on and gazes at the clown, scaring him further. "Must. Never. Look. Again!" he utters in panic. Not helping also is the foul smell inside the untouched chest freezer. Thankfully, he has the towel to cover his nose from the awful stench.

For a while, he takes the time to ease his fears, until he passes out.

Eventually, the Larks lift the heavy chest cover, thanks to Loui's surprising strength and Lara's crowbar that, and pull Lincoln out of the chest. The girls try to wake Lincoln to the same results. Lara and Lyra slap his face, to no avail. Lacy and Lani pour water on him, to no avail. Lois and Lexi shake his body, to no avail. Leah and Loui push his chest, to no avail. And Lulu bangs his arms, to no avail of noticing her.

Lena deduces that he may be short of breath; thus, at the urgency of the situation, she tries to resuscitate Lincoln back to consciousness. After several attempts, and finally at one long mouth-to-mouth routine, Lincoln gets revived but stunned to see Lena doing mouth-to-mouth to him.

"Lena…Lena…" Lincoln mumbles.

"Lincoln!" Lena hollers, then immediately embraces Lincoln in relief. "You're okay!"

"Yeah," he replies to the tightness of Lena's embrace. "You can let go now."

"Oh Lincoln, we thought we lost you," she says emotionally.

"I'm fine Lena. It's okay."

"Aww, Lincoln. That's sweet," Loui reacts, "Group hug guys!" With that, all the Lark sisters surround Lincoln and Lena, and join in their embrace. It is a tender moment that they all wanted to cherish as a family. And it is what Lincoln needs to fully appreciate the Larks as part of his own.

During their long embrace, Lincoln abruptly remembers one crucial thing, "Wait guys, the fuse."

"Don't worry. I got one right here," Leah says as she brings out an unused fuse from her pocket.

"How did you get access to that?!" Lacy interrogates.

"Dad slips this accidentally to my crayon box back at home. I tried to give it back to him, but then it happened," Leah shares.

"What happened?" Lincoln asks.

"Uhmm…" Lena stutteringly utters for the sisters, but Lara answers for them.

"Something you don't need to know Lincoln."

"Uhhh…okay." After that, Lincoln places the fuse to the receptacle and switches back the power on. It is a breath of fresh air for the Larks to finally feel the power back on. And with that, they rejoice, "Yeah!"

"Once again, Lincoln saved the day everyone!" Lois declares proudly.

"Yeah! Free cheers for Lincoln!" Loui adds, making the sisters reply with another "Yeah!" Never does Lincoln feel more at home with the Larks. With their never-ending cheers and their roaring hospitality, the Larks feel like family to Lincoln.

Later that night, the Larks prepare a sumptuous family dinner where Lincoln is invited. He sits down at the table while he witness the Larks. Lois bakes chicken, gravy and blueberry pies. Lena and Lyra prepare the main courses: savory roasted pork and Buffalo wings. Lacy and Lani arrange the fruits and vegetables. Leah and Lexi set the table and clean the halls. Lara and Loui get rid of the abandoned chest freezer to the curb. And Lulu plays with Lincoln's hair.

"Say Lincoln, where did you get your white hair?" Lexi asks.

"It's a mystery. Mom and dad didn't told me about it. But for what it was, it's not albinism," Lincoln answers.

"Oh. It looks cool on you," she responds, making Lincoln smile.

As Lara and Loui just drag out the heavy chest freezer, they hear a car stop by at the front of their house. They check it out to see their parents Craig and Lauren Lark arrive. Craig has blonde hair with a goatee, wearing a plaid green polo and brown pants, while Lauren Lark is a brunette with a ponytail, wearing a beige blouse, black skirt and black blazer.

"Guys, mom and dad are home!" Loui announces, making the sisters rush to the door to greet their parents with hugs and kisses. It is a delight for the Lark girls to see their parents after their long business trip.

"Easy girls. You're gonna get daddy tired," Mr. Lark says as he eases the girls from surrounding him and Lani and Leah clinging to his arms. After a while, they let go off him and help prepare dinner.

Mrs. Lark then spots Lulu and lifts her to her arms. "Aww Lulu, how's our little lotus? Where you a good girl when we were not around?" she utters in teasing baby-talk.

"Something's cooking. What were having tonight Lois?" Mr. Lark asks with enthusiasm.

"Well, prepared you guys a wonderful dinner, featuring Lena's special recipe," Lois says sweetly.

"Seems Lois the girls learned a thing or two on gourmet cooking," Mrs. Lark comments.

"Self-taught mostly. But thanks to you, mom," Lois points out, as the family walks to the dining room.

Mr. Lark then notices Lincoln seated at the table. "Oh, who do we have here?" he asks.

"Mom, dad, neighbor just right in front of us, this is Lincoln," Lena introduces Lincoln to her parents.

"Lincoln Loud, sir," Lincoln utters courteously, reaching out his hand to Mr. Lark.

"Craig Lark, nice to meet you Lincoln," Mr. Lark introduces himself, "Oh, and here's my muse."

"Lauren Lark, such a good boy Lincoln," Mrs. Lark remarks, "Lois has told me about you."

"Really?" Lincoln reacts.

"Yeah. She told me that time when you gave her and her sisters that chocolate pie. And then it came to your face. Just what the girls need."

"Hehehe. Just another failed prank from me."

"Oh, was that meant to be a prank?"

"Ahh, yeah. I mean no. I mean, it was a surprise. Hehehe."

"Well, if you want surprises boy, there's a whole lot in this family," Mr. Lark guarantees, "Now Lincoln, let me ask you this, do you think one word can make your day?"

"Well, I guess so," Lincoln answers.

"Ahh okay. Now imagine this. You had a bad mood in the morning. You drag yourself to the bus stop, even though you don't want to go to school. You step in the bus, and the driver greets you 'hello' with a warm smile on his face. How would you feel?"

"Uhmm happy definitely. I mean it's unusual for a bus driver to do that."

"Exactly. In just one word, it brings a lot. Hello. Help enrich and lift the lives of others. Encourage, and they can encourage as well. That's how we can see the beauty in life."

"That changes a lot."

"My material." Mr. Lark then hands a brochure to Lincoln, advertising him as a motivational speaker. "When you have already 12 steps, you can do the easier way. Just say 'hello'. With that, welcome to the Larks."

"Will you be joining us for dinner, dear?" Mrs. Lark asks, "We would love to have you here."

Lena then butts in for him, "Of course mom, he will be joining us. Aren't you Lincoln?"

Realizing the openness of his new neighbors, Lincoln is delighted to see them in that way, as a caring, welcoming family. With that, he accepts their invitation.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm finally back after a five-day hiatus. However, during that period, realizing the adjustments of responsibilities on my personal life, I will have to lower my submissions every week from 5-6 to 3. But still, I will try to give updates for every story.**

 **Plus, I will try to catch up with the newest Loud House episodes and raise my thoughts about them, especially the polarizing one, "Brawl in the Family" as it went in the same route as "One of the Boys".**

 **For now, here is an update of "The Other House".**

* * *

After a festive dinner with the Larks, Lincoln walks home with a chocolate pie as a take-home treat. Before he leaves, Lena rushes to him to ask him something.

"Lincoln, wait! Hey, I was thinking if we can hangout again tomorrow, by the park?" Lena asks.

"I don't see why not," he responds.

"Great! You'll never believe what I'm going to show you," Lena says, then suddenly hugs Lincoln as a friendly gesture. "Thanks for being there, my friend."

"You too," Lincoln warmheartedly responds.

"Hope you enjoy the cake. I bake it with help from sis," the 11-year-old Lark kids mentions before going back to her own house, "See you tomorrow!"

Stunned by her overly friendly attitude, Lincoln takes delight as he watches Lena go back to her own house. He cannot believe what he had gone through tonight. It was astounding for him.

As he arrives in the Loud house, he sees the house dark. So he switches on the lights, to which he discovers his sisters just standing by and angry, waiting for him to arrive.

"Where have you been, Lincoln?" Lola interrogates her brother.

"Uhmm what's the fuss about?" Lincoln inquires of out of curiosity.

"Oh, what the fuss say, huh?" Luan angrily spouts.

Suddenly, Lynn knocks him to the floor with her foot, as part of confronting him. "What have you been doing so late bro?"

"Okay, if there's anything I missed, I'm sorry, okay?" Lincoln spouts hastily, "I was just with the Larks."

"With the Larks?!" Luna utters in bafflement.

"Why are you literally hanging out with them?" Lori asks him glaringly.

"It was just a blackout. I need to help them," the 11-year-old admits, while being pushed by Lynn to the floor.

"So, if it means befriending our neighbors, should it really mean lending them a hand?" Lynn catechizes.

"Well, they need it at that time. What else could I do?" Lincoln answers while feeling Lynn's foot pushing his face.

"Let him go, Lynn," Lori orders, to which Lynn responds. "Do you even literally know what time it is, Lincoln?"

Lincoln checks out the clock to see it is not that dangerous as it seems. "It's exactly 10. At least I didn't last beyond."

"Better be lucky that I needn't stomp you more to the floor!" Lynn blurts.

"You could got have us worried Lincoln. What if you were kidnapped by robbers?" Leni shares her concern.

"No, Leni. Kidnappers kidnap kids, not robbers," Luna corrects her.

"Oh. So…what if you get robbed by kidnappers?" Leni says, driving Luna to facepalm.

"Look. I'm know I shouldn't have left you guys hanging. I apologize," Lincoln sincerely discloses, "Are we cool now?"

However, his sisters do otherwise, glaring at him and sinking in the feeling of jealousy that Lincoln grows a bond with their more undistinguished new neighbors.

"It takes a protracted time interval for our individual sentiments to be lodged in our collective mindsets. So, it takes time," Lisa comments.

"Whatever she said," Lana agrees.

"Well, whatever. Dishes on the sink," Lori says, as the girls stubbornly return to their rooms.

Lincoln checks out the kitchen and sees towers of dishes just standing by to be washed.

"Lori, but there are a lot. And it's 10!" Lincoln assesses complainingly to Lori.

"Dishes on the sink!" she insists, "That's what you literally get for missing out on us." Then, Lori, along with the other sisters, enter their rooms and slam their doors.

Bummed out, Lincoln drags himself to the kitchen sink and starts cleaning. "Sheesh, what's the problem with them? They know I'm doing chore, so why they have to against me hanging out with them?" he wonders, but quickly shrugs it off. He then dials Lena from his phone as his new nightly routine when washing the dishes.

Starting from that day on, Lincoln officially bonds with the Larks. Every after school, Lincoln either passes by the Lark house or gets fetched by Lena, who takes him to check out her neat stuff or hangout somewhere. She would invite him to join to listen to her mom's and dad's mixtapes, or to dig through their vintage items, or to read under-the-radar books and comics, or to lie down by their grassy yard, or to jam through rock songs, or to obsess over talking about random stuff (from politics to toothpaste preference). Just what a young hipster would tend to do.

They both encounter a problem from one or more of the Lark sisters, and Lincoln helps resolve it through application of the lessons he learned from his sisters. And the Larks cheer him for his effort. Lincoln gets home late and goes through dishes duty. And another day continues this , Lincoln has a fair share of moments with the Larks. And to the tune of "And She Was" by Talking Heads, an 80's rock classic that Lincoln got hooked on (thanks to Lena's recommendation), among them are:

Lyra looking for a perfect vest to wear, and Lincoln giving her a jacket that he sew.

Loui trying to open a metal cookie jar, and Lincoln offering her help, only to accidentally splatter the cookie to her face.

Lani attempting to trap a snipe, only for Lincoln to have his hand trap on it.

Lincoln and Lena getting Lulu to smile again after she gets upset of her lunch.

Lacy lecturing Lincoln and Leah about the importance of volunteerism as a core intelligence.

Lois taking Lincoln, Lena and Lexi for shopping.

Lexi setting up a booby trap for delivery personnel to step on, only for Lincoln and Lena to get trapped themselves.

Lois teaching Lincoln some basic dance moves.

Leah and Lani taking a shot at baking with Lincoln, only for their creations to fail.

Loui, Lena and Lincoln listening to the latest songs from Smooch.

Lacy and Lara trying to fix the drainage pipes with Lincoln, only for them to get splashed.

Lyra giving Lara a makeover, with the assistance of Lincoln.

Lulu appreciating Bun-Bun as Lincoln shows her his favorite plush toy.

Leah painting a portrait of Lincoln.

Lani getting taught by Lincoln how to fly a kite, with Lena, Loui and Lyra witnessing this feat.

The Larks on a road trip with Lincoln to Niagara Falls.

Lincoln, Lena, Loui, Lani and Lara cosplaying for a convention.

Lincoln lending a help to Lyra and Lacy, for Leah to participate in a school play.

Lincoln, along with Lois and Lulu, assisting Lexi to ride a bike.

And Lincoln joining them in their "best picnic ever".

Those are definitely great times for Lincoln. As Lincoln's relationship with the Lark gets deeper, the Lark sisters (or more specifically Lena) treat him like their brother. No wonder their constant invitations for him on hangouts, out-of-town trips, dinners and family moments that their parents become appreciative for.

All the while, Lincoln's sisters get more concerned of Lincoln's constant absence in the family. They observe that in dire times of need, Lincoln is not there to support any of them. Whether Leni is sewing a new outfit, or Luna is composing a new song, or Luan brainstorms a new joke with a punchline, or Lynn needs a practice buddy for her sports practices, or Lucy tries to craft a new poem, or Lana is repairing a damage or a malfunction within the house, or Lola is practicing for her beauty pageants, or Lisa is conducting her experiments that need assistance, or Lily wants someone to play with, Lincoln is not there for them. The sisters are dismayed of Lincoln's absence but Lori is the more infuriated. With this, she takes Lincoln's bond with the Larks with a serious glare.

The next day, after school, Lincoln bonds with Lena at the playground, where they both hangout at the swings that are overlooking the Royal Woods suburbs.

"Such a breathtaking view, isn't it?" Lincoln utters.

"Sure is," Lena agrees, "Though we have the same view, only the skyscrapers are blocking it. Sometimes, I just cut them out of the picture, just to appreciate the view." Lincoln laughs at Lena's opinion. "It's true."

"Well, that seems life as a city girl," Lincoln comments.

"Oh Lincoln, you don't know the life of a city girl," Lena replies intuitively, "Parents absent 24/7. You have to cook your own breakfast, lunch and dinner. You get to have the flat by yourself. By yourself. Alone."

And just by hearing Lena's frank confession, Lincoln is shocked at such revelation of her lifestyle back at San Francisco.

"I'm just playing with you, Lincoln," Lena admits, to Lincoln's relief, "Am not a city girl. My friend is. We're not from downtown. Actually, we're more from the outskirts by the bay. We used to have big house for whole family. Too bad he gone away."

"Who gone away?" Lincoln inquires of , she pauses midway, catching her own breath from what she is about to reveal. "He's gone now. You don't need to know, Lyndon."

"Lyndon?""Uhmmm…I…I meant Lincoln. Sorry, hehe. Just had 'London Bridge' ringing in my head. London Bridge is falling down…falling down…falling down…hehe."

After Lena clearly covers up a near revelation, Lincoln wonders what is going around her. Though he understands Lena's attitude, he doesn't buy her excuse, making him dismiss yet rethink what she had shown.

"Anyway, Linc, have you ever thought what you like to be when you grow up?" the 11-year-old Lark asks.

"Well, I thought about being a comic book writer, since avid fan right here," Lincoln shares, "But I was thinking if I could work as…a scientist I guess?"

But Lena chuckles about that revelation, "You, a scientist? I mean, good, but why a scientist?"

"Look, I haven't thought about it. There's nothing in my mind. The rest that I have but haven't decided are whether a rock star, a fashion designer, a comedian, a handyman, a poet, a marathon man, a CEO of some company, a beauty queen coach, or a babysitter," Lincoln exposits, "And now that I think about it, I am starting to miss my sisters. I mean they are my sisters. Sure they tend to meddle around. They tend to annoy me. They pester me. They even made me bathe in molten cheese, just to get the car keys. But, I love them. It's hard not to miss them."

Despite Lincoln being sincere about his feelings to his beloved sisters, Lena gets worried about this. So, she opts to swerve him from such topic. "Well, touché Lincoln," she utters.

"What do you mean?" the 11-year-old boy asks.

"About knowing what you like when we grow up. I haven't thought of a career too. Have lot of options, but none. Nothing in my mind," Lena discloses. With that, Lincoln smiles at her as a sign of empathy. Then, they continue to witness the sun setting.

Afterwards, Lincoln and Lena journey home through their bicycles. With an exchange of goodbyes, they both contently walk back to their respective homes.

However, just as Lincoln enters the Loud house, Lori springs out of the bushes from hiding (complete with binoculars and camouflage gear) on a coast clear and sneaks towards the premises of the Lark house. And with a concerned demeanor, she knocks on the door, to which Lois answers.

"Oh, Lori. What brings you here?" Lois greets her.

"May I have a word with you, Lois?" Lori insists.

"Uhmm sure," Lois invites her neighbor in.

"Want to join us? We're having UNO night."Lori then glances on the Lark sisters (particularly Lacy, Lara, Lyra, Lexi, Loui and Lani) playing UNO cards. At this round, Lacy draws a +4 card to Lyra.

"That's strike +4 to you, Lyra! Hehe," Lacy utters.

"Awww, well, I'm sure there are no useless cards this time," Lyra says as she gets four UNO cards, "And there are."

Back to Lori, she demands, "Can we take this somewhere quiet?" Lois then takes Lori to the kitchen, where Lori confronts her with this, "Okay, stop this foolishness now!"

"Uhmm what are you talking about Lori?" Lois wonders.

"You literally know what I'm talking about, Stepford sisters of doom," Lori reproaches Lois.

"Stepford sisters? What?"

"I know your plans. Hogging Lincoln's attention to yours, so you can take him for us? So you can zap him and eat his brain?"

"Okay, Lori. You may have gone overboard."

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"Okay, hold your horses. Let me make it clear. We are not stealing Lincoln from you."

"Oh really. Well, can you care to explain these to me?!" Lori then shows her phone to Lois of pictures of Lincoln hanging out with the Larks, most prominently with Lena.

"Hmm…Seem to spot a white hairline on Lena's hair. Need to remind her of that," Lois sarcastically comments.

"That's not literally the point!"

"Okay, look. Maybe, Lincoln just wants quality time with us. But that doesn't mean he doesn't like to bond with you."

"Oh, so you presumed he wants to spend with you more than us?!"

"No, I wasn't thinking that way but…"

"We'll see about that Lois. I'm not done with you! You and me, duke it out tomorrow. Dance off! We'll literally see who the better one for Lincoln is." At that dare, Lori walks out of the house, glaring at Lois conspicuously. Lois is just puzzled at what Lori threw at her. Though she finds this troubling, she shrugs it off for a while.

Back at Lori, only then as she gathered her sisters for an emergency Secret Secrets Club meeting that she realized she actually challenged Lois to a dare. But still, she keeps her intuitions at full force.

"We have important matters to discuss, ladies," Lori enunciates.

"Yeah, will you hurry up? I have Friday night football to tune in," Lynn mentions.

"Set that aside, Lynn. So, do you know who's missing with us tonight?"

"Ooohh…Ooohh," Lana raises her hand, wanting to answer, "Let me guess. Lucy's not here. She told me that she's off to her private moment."

Then suddenly Lucy appears right behind Lana, frightening her in the process. "I'm here Lana. That was a while ago. But Lori persuaded since this is of 'urgent matter'."

"No Lana, it's Lincoln. Lincoln's the one I'm talking about. And as of the moment, he's still doing dishes. And literally chatting with one of our neighbors."

"You're not the only who spotted him doing that," Lola supports Lori's case, "Last time I walk to the fridge to get orange juice, I saw him video-chatting with some Lenka girl."

"You mean Lena?" Luna clarifies.

"Or whatever. And I heard them making out," Lola hastily shares, to the shock of the sisters.

"Awww isn't that cute?" Leni comments.

"No Leni. It's not cute! He's dating from one who is not Ronnie Anne!"

"Okay, that is not cute."

"See what I mean? Lincoln's gone most of the time because he's hanging out with the Larks. And it's not going good. It literally looks like they are stealing Lincoln from us. And we have to take action, now!"

"But how? We can't just barge in their house and tell them 'Stay away from Lincoln!'" Luna points out.

"In addition, we're a nuisance when it comes to neighbors, so that's a difficult defense to fight at court," Lisa notes, making her sisters puzzled of her justice system metaphor, "What?"

"No worries about that," Lori assures, "I have a plan. I challenged Lois to a dance showdown tomorrow."

"You what?!" the sisters react altogether.

"Lori, do you even know how to dance?" Lynn asks.

"I have…experience. Man, what was I literally thinking back then? Maybe, it's the temper talking."

"Boy, that shows a downside of your plan. Hehehe," Luan laughingly remarks, causing Lori to get annoyed, "But seriously Lori, how can you beat Lois? She's like a pro."

"I know. But we have to do this, for Lincoln. We need to force the Larks to stay away from Lincoln or else. And I've just got the plan," Lori says this while taking notice at innocent Lily. Foreshadowing there. "Now who's with me?!"

Before they could respond, the sisters ponder on Lori's plan of action if this is the best option they could take. But since Lincoln is at stake here, considering he has been missing in action in the Loud house, they have no other choice but to go for Lori's suggestion to reclaim their brother.

"We are!" they utter.

"Good, now let's bring our brother back!" Lori proclaims, sending the Loud sisters to their battle cry.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day – a Saturday – Lincoln wakes up from a warm sleep and readies for another day with the Larks. But as he steps out of the room, his sisters show up on the door.

"Hey Lincoln!" Lola greets him with a sharp grin, surprising Lincoln.

"Don't scare me like that, Lola, or you'll turn to Lucy this time," Lincoln replies, "Need to go now."

"Lincoln, we have sort of a problem," Lynn addresses him.

"You see, all of us literally need to go to the town's outdoor…flea market for some…surprise for school," Lori adds.

"Really? I didn't know Royal Woods had a flea market," Lincoln comments.

"Well, they do now dude," Luna quickly defends their case, "Anyway, since we all need to go, nobody's gonna take care of Lily."

"So Lincy, will you be a dear and…" Leni says as she tries to remember the lines that her sisters set up for her. Forgetting her lines, she clearly reads her spiel written on the palm of her right hand, "…be a dear…and be a dear?"

The sisters groan at their sister's failed compromise. But Lynn clears up for her, "Okay Lincoln, we just want to ask if you can take care of Lily for us?"

"Why don't some of you take care of Lily?" Lincoln points out.

"That's the problem, Linc. We all have to go," Lana throws in their defense.

"How come all you have to go?" the Loud brother asks in a serious manner, making the sisters stutter from being compromised but are able to throw in their excuses on the spot.

Lisa first gives her excuse, or argument, "Well, for since no one in this family can tell the difference of an early Erlenmeyer flask and an early Buchner flask, I believe I must be in the authority to join the proceedings. Also I do the budget."

"And I am literally the only one legal to drive among us, so I have to drive us there," Lori throws in hers.

"And of course, extreme shopper right here. I need to guide them all through shopping for fleas," Leni gives out her excuse.

Obviously, Lori reacts gallingly to her sister's mistake, "Leni, ahhemmm."

"Oh, I meant window shopping for fleas," Leni fails to correct, making Lori facepalm.

"Uhhh…and I need to find this rare violin that I saw from that flea market," Luna argues.

"You didn't mention you play violin," Lincoln clarifies.

"Yeah, neither did you," Luna snaps back.

Then Luan butts in, "Also, I heard there's a ventriloquist puppet maker who can do puppets on the spot. Maybe I can ask him to do a ventriloquist of me. Then, we can puppet some cool ideas from that. Hehehe. Get it? But seriously, it's part of my act."

"And also, I learned of rare exotic pets in that market. I can't wait to see them," Lana exhilaratingly says.

But Lola slows her twin sister down, "Hold your horses, Lana. Remember, we need to find costumes for our Universal Children's Day portion in school, right?"

"Ohh yeah, our Universal Pictures…Children's something…roller derby…" Lana utters to her defense, angering Lola.

"Get your focus up, Lana. This is important work!" Lola berates her.

Back to their line of excuses, Lincoln asks, "Okay. Then what about Lynn and Lucy?"

"Uhmmm somebody needs a muscle to carry our items," Lynn asserts as she carries a loaded bag.

"Then why do you have a bag with stuff in it?"

"Ahhhh uhhhh we are going to trade stuff in the market for new stuff. Hehehe," Lynn nervously defends.

"Didn't know barter trade exists until now."

"As for me, I heard of exclusive Transylvanian items in that flea market. Genuine Vlad the Impaler items are one of that prized possessions that I need for my arsenal," Lucy emphasizes.

"Yeah, what she said, Lincoln," Lynn solidifies her case, "Also of us need a heavy lifting."

"Well…" Lincoln utters as they let him proceed to Lily's room, where their beloved baby sister is still resting on her cradle. Her resting innocence alone is convincing enough for Lincoln. "I guess I could watch over her, even for once."

"Great, here's her stuff in the bag," Lori says gloriously, then drops Lily's baby bag at her brother. "Baby bottles, baby bibs, baby food, baby pacifiers and all. They're all literally in there."

"We'll be out before sundown, so good luck with you two in here," Luna says.

"So toodles, little bro," Lynn bids him luck as they hurriedly exit and shut the door closed. Yet, they stay behind the door, ensuring Lincoln is doing his duties for them to get a clean sweep exit out of the house.

The door slam causes Lily to wake up from her sleep. She yawns to see Lincoln in front of her and calls out for his attention.

"Hey Lily, want something for the morning?" Lincoln asks her.

Lily responds with her random baby gibberish, ending with her uttering "Poo-poo".

"Well, no harm on skipping visiting Lena and the Larks," Lincoln comments as he lifts Lily to her baby stool in her room, "Come on Lily. Time to give you a wonderful treat."

Lily reacts with a cheer on her face, as Lincoln fetches her baby food.

Meanwhile, as they overhear Lincoln from the door, the sisters sigh in relief, assured that their plan is going on as planned.

"Now, what's the plan?" Lana asks.

"Had our stuff Lynn?" Lori inquires from her sister.

"Lock and loaded," Lynn answers.

"Good. Now let's that show the Larks who are the real bosses in this neighborhood," Lori pronounces, which Lincoln slightly overhears.

"Guys, are you leaving now?" Lincoln asks.

"Yes bro, we are. Goodbye," the Loud sisters respond in intertwining notion before they rush downstairs to the garage, lock the front door, leave the key under the mat (Leni did it) and unload Lynn's bag, filled with guerilla equipment for some reason.

"Okay sisters, let's roll," Lori commences for the sisters to ready for their encounter with the Larks. They suit up with battle gear in montage style, as if they are infiltrators to any enemy building. Complete with face makeup, camouflage gear and nerf bats, the sisters are ready for their intrusion to the Lark house, as if their fierce getup doesn't resemble like 80's action stars or Taylor Swift's entourage in "Bad Blood".

.

Meanwhile, Lena is coincidentally tending to the care of her baby sister Lulu. As Lulu is a little bit cranky on being fed, the 11-year-old is attempting to motivate her with doing a silly dance in front of her. But Lulu is never appeased. With her sisters busy, she decides to consult Lincoln on her phone.

" _Hello, Lena_?" Lincoln answers his buzzing phone while patting Lily's back to belch.

" _Hey Linc, where are you now_?" Lena asks.

" _At home. I have to take care of Lily at the moment_ ," Lincoln replies.

" _Ohh, good. We can hang there instead. I will head there right now_ ," Lena responds.

" _Great, will be downstairs in a minute. I'll just be putting Lily to sleep in her room_."

" _Hold on. Stay where you are and open the windows there_." Lincoln finds Lena's instruction a bit assertive. But nevertheless, he places Lily back to her cradle and opens the windows as instructed.

" _There. Do…you want us to see through window to window?_ "

" _Just ready a cushion or a pillow_."

" _Ready a what?_ "

From the other side, Lena proceeds to go to Lincoln's room. She opens the window from Lulu's bedroom, launches a grappling hook towards the wooden gap above Lily's bedroom door, straps her baby sister on a sling carrier, places the baby bag on her shoulder and ziplines towards Lily's bedroom. Just seeing this unbelievable sight surprises Lincoln by the core. And as she paces above the street, Lena enters the Loud house like a bullet and accidentally (and unnoticeably) lands on Lincoln.

"Yoohoo! Score!" Lena hollers as she notices on stepping at Lincoln. "Oh, sorry Lincoln. Didn't mean that."

"It's okay. That was pretty clever what you did. I give it that. Awesome," Lincoln says as he bears the pain.

"Oh thanks. Sorry about your wall by the way," Lena addresses punching through the wooden gap above the door with her grappling hook.

"It's okay. Luckily, you land on Lisa's room. The walls degenerate here," Lincoln explains, "Which is the main reason why Lisa's explosions didn't cause damage. What brings you here?"

"Babysitting duty. Lois supposed to do it. But she'll be cooking. And Lulu here gone cranky," Lena answers. "Hey Lulu, why say 'hi' to Lincy." Lena then releases Lulu from the baby sling and hands her to Lincoln.

Lulu greets him with a tender touch on his and a release of blueberries in almost the same way Lily does.

"Aww, Lulu," Lincoln greets her with snuggles to her chest, her sides and her tummy, to her absolute delight and giggles. He then brings her to Lily's crib. "Here, I want you to meet again your friend Lily." The two baby girls greet each other as they have never known each other before. And to put it simply, they bond with a random exchange of gibberish and baby touches.

"Ohh Lulu, I'm almost forgot," Lena says, then hands out a blue scarf to Lulu, making her snuggle it the same way Lily does with her blanket. And sure enough, they socialize about it in baby language.

Lincoln and Lena chuckle at this adorable sight. "It's great they get to bond," Lincoln reacts.

"Yeah," Lena agrees, "Glad I was landed in babysitting duties for this." They suddenly turn to each other and nearly make direct facial contact. "Ohh sorry about that."

"It's okay," Lincoln utters. But as they feel a sudden sense of intimacy with each other, just by looking at each other's eyes, both Lincoln and Lena near their lips to each other and almost kiss. But…

 _This is supposed to be the first half of the chapter. But in the next half, let the battle begin. Louds v. Larks_


	9. Chapter 9

Everything will be in bad blood. But back to the main story.

At the Lark house, the Lark sisters are nestled in their humble abode, doing their own activities. Lois is doing warm-up crunches. Lacy is tutoring about botany to an eager Lani, who is holding her gerbil at hand. Lara shows Leah how she does remixes of songs. Lyra, Loui and Lexi are channel surfing. Just as Lois is about to do jumping jacks, someone is knocking over the door.

"I'll get it," Lois says.

"If it's the Girl Scout yesterday, tell her I owe her next week," Lara reminds her sister.

As Lois answers the door, she sees the Loud sisters in their guerilla getup and their serious business face expressions. Despite that, Lois warmly welcomes them, "Oh Lori…and her sisters, what brings you here?"

"We shall literally settle the score," Lori answers intuitively.

"What are you…talking about?"

"Yesterday. Ring some bells?"

"Lori, I thought you were joking about it."

"Oh, was I joking about you stealing Lincoln from us?"

Lola then dives towards in front of her and takes charge. "Back of brother stealer! Move it girls!" And at her signal, the Louds enter the Lark residence, which startles the Larks as they corner each of them.

"What's this? Homeland security?" Lacy utters in bafflement. "Okay, this is actually borderline trespassing, so I believe all of you are liable for this offence…"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever Lacy!" Lexi shuts her sister up.

At this point, the Louds have become radical when it comes to approaching the ever innocent Larks. Seeing this as a concern, Lois persuades Lori to stop. "Okay Lori, this has gone too far."

"Oh really?" she replies, "Well, why don't we settle this by dance? Like you said."

"You don't want to challenge me," Lois persists."Oh, I literally would," Lori boasts as she displays her amateur cheerleading moves. "What'd you say?"

Lois then looks back to her sisters, who huddle up due to the intrusion, "Should I, girls?"

"I think it's best if we settle this peacefully…" Lyra suggests.

But the overzealously manic Lexi intrudes her, "Let a rip, sis! Show her who's boss!" Yet, the cheers of the Loud sisters to their champion overshadows Lexi's enthusiasm.

"Are you sure about this Lori?" Leni asks, "You said you'd never want to go back to dancing after cheer squad happened."

"I know. But it's either this, or we lose Lincoln," Lori clarifies to Leni, with a bit of doubt. "Hold my phone for me. Don't literally lose it."

The two gather on the vacant space near the door that the Larks cleared for the two to compete. "If you really want to challenge, why don't you go first?" Lois insists with a little smug to her face.

This infuriates Lori at the point of wanting to defeat her neighborly rival. "We'll see about that. Luna, play the tune." At her signal, and with a salute, Luna plays Lori's music from her radio, which is "Yeah" by Usher. And as foreseen by Leni, Lori's dance moves are really outdated. Composing of head bops, elbow turns and calisthenics while moving around Lois, Lori's moves do not even mesh well simultaneously to the music. Basically, it is as if a person with no experience in dancing was called to dance on the spot during a high school reunion or a wedding and doing the whip and the nae nae. They are not terrible, but they are not the levels that Lois achieved. And it is no surprise that some of the Loud sisters have a slight cringe on watching their sister "attempt" to dance again.

As she finishes her number with a leap that is a near split, Lois steps in with a focused stance, squatting while placing her hands on her laps. "Lara, play whenever you're good."

"Check Lois," Lara responds as she plays "Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey. And with a head bop, Lois begins to dance gracefully. From a person with experience in hip hop, the Lark sister does this with a sense of professionalism. They are Step Up levels of awe and wonder that her image becomes striking, much to Lori's displeasure. Then suddenly, with a hand gesture, Lois invites her for a showdown as the song goes.

Reluctantly, Lori goes along and tries to keep up with Lois' dance moves. However, majority of her moves are failed attempts to mimic them. So, it comes to no surprise that Lori ended badly on a backflip that backfired. Yet, Lois keeps along with her poise, ending her number with a split.

Lori's sisters rush to her aide as the Larks cheer for their sister.

"Lori, are you okay?" Leni asks in concern.

"Yeah, think so," Lori confirms.

Looking back at the defeated, Lois remarks empathetically, "I told you shouldn't have challenged me, Lori. Need a hand there?"

Then suddenly, Lynn comes towards her and defends on Lori's behalf, "Oh no, she's not gonna need a hand from you. We're not done yet!"

"Yeah!" the Louds reply in unison."It ain't over till it's over!" Luna blurts out.

"We're not gonna let this slip, since you are larking for trouble. Hehe," Luan jokingly adds, but reverts to her seriousness immediately.

"Why don't we settle this in a different way?" Lola suggests.

"Yeah!" the Louds reply in unison."How about we settle it like this?" Lori proposes, "Whoever wins every challenge shall guess the next challenge. If we win, you guys stop stealing Lincoln from us."

"And if you lose?" Lois wonders.

"Then, we let Lincoln do whatever he wants with you and we won't meddle with him anymore," Lori continues.

And with that, Lois takes the deal, sealed with a handshake. "Okay, but another condition. All of you gets to play."

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

"Good, let's kick this off with…a staring contest."

This gravely surprises the Louds, but Lisa steps in with confidence. "Don't worry, fellow sisters of blood. I shall assent this trial with an amount of effortlessness."

The Larks then discuss who to send out as their champion. And in a mutual discussion, Lacy calls out their competitor, "Okay, we'll have Loui from our side."

"Uhmm I will try my best," Loui replies.

Before she steps in for the challenge, Lacy reminds her this, "Okay, Loui, I know you are nervous. But whatever happens, believe in yourself you can win this, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try!" a motivated Loui assures.

"But wait, she has glasses!" Lani brings up her concern about Lisa's eyewear.

And wanting to be fair, Lisa takes off her glasses and proceeds to the challenge.

"Are you sure about this, Lise?" Lynn asks.

"Trust me, sister. We need the enemies be taught a valuable lesson," the 4-year-old genius says.

With the two positioned with a squatted stance, they begin forth the staring contest. It is a tense bout for both, as both parties try to maintain still their ophthalmic muscles. Loui almost flinches but continues on. However, Lisa's eyes gets sharper and sharper into a deathly glare, which Loui finds it worrying, making her eyes to water. Knowing she's going to break down, Loui blinks, making Lisa the winner. The Louds cheer on for their sister's victory, while the Larks approach Loui to her aide. Loui wipes her wet eyes from such a tense challenge. But nevertheless, Lisa commends her, "Not bad, yet your muscles tend to fight against your reflexes, which allows your heart to beat 35 to 50 times per minute, causing for your palpebral inferior to react."

But back to the ballgame, Lori utters, "It's not literally over yet, Larks!"

"We challenge you, in a jump rope contest!" Lola suggests in enthusiasm, "Courtesy of me."

"Hey, hey, I get to decide, per rules Lola," Lisa says, "But okay, a jumping rope contest it is."

Out of the Larks' arsenal, Lexi steps in with a smirk to her face and bragging confidence of a rough player that made her into a troublemaking sister. "Let's do this!"

Basically, the whole competition goes through the same pattern, depending on which family wins. The victor announces the next challenge. A representative from each family steps in to accept it. They compete in the said challenge. And whoever wins shout out the next challenge. Cue the montage.

For the jump rope contest, Lola takes the upper hand but Lexi speeds up her roping skills, leaving Lola astounded by her consistent jump rope movement. This is ultimately a distraction for the 6-year-old beauty queen, causing her to step on the rope and trip herself from it and declaring Lexi the victor for the round. At that, she shouts the next challenge, "Race!"

For the next challenge, a hundred-meter dash, the Louds select Lynn as their champion, for obvious reasons, while the Larks select Lara to represent them. The marathon takes place within the Lark premises, from their second floor to the yard, and will have the players sprint from start to finish and back to the starting line. Since Lynn is the most experienced of the two competitors, it is no surprise that as the signal goes off, she dashes to first place with no effort whatsoever. But as she dashes back to the starting line, Lara chastises her for being an arrogant sports junkie. Nevertheless, Lynn gets motivated to finish the race, landing her as the champion, to her sisters' bemusement. "Okay, next: badminton!"

On the next round, the Louds has Luna step in while the Larks has Lacy compete for them. With a makeshift badminton net, a referee (Lisa) and an officiator (Lara), the two compete on who gets to score the first 25 points. Both are performing well, with each scoring alternatively. However, Luna's swinging are more like if she is swinging her guitar in the craziest sense, while Lacy's moves are based on official moves by the Badminton World Federation (since she has prior experience, as part of her overachievement). Thus, when it comes to the second half, Luna's moves becomes more exaggerated that the shuttlecock tends to go off court. This lands Lacy more score, slowly dubbing her as the champion for the next round. While the Larks celebrate another victory, the Louds aid Luna from such a tiresome game. "Chugging contest!" Lacy suggests the next challenge.

For this, the Louds select Luan while the Larks select Lyra. The challenge is that players will have to drink whatever each party mixed in the blender. (The Louds made a mixture of vegetables and tofu, while the Larks was an unsettling mixture of bell pepper, jalapeno, eggs and cheeseburger.) While Luan almost gets the upper hand until she loses it when she catches the spiciness of the jalapeno, Lyra surpasses as she chugs continually, digging into her mind that she's drinking a diet-recommended mixture. And once again, another victory lands for the Larks. As for Luan, she tries to recover and even jokes while breathing fire, "That was such a jalapeno-n the butt. Hehe." "Scavenger hunt!" Lyra proposes.

On this round, the Louds count it on Lana, while the Larks bet it on Leah. The challenge is pretty much to find a lost ancient coin on the yard. Leah gets the upper hand since she is strong on detail as a young artist. Though, she gets bitten by a fire ant but never minds it. However, it is Lana that wins the challenge, thanks to her sniffing ability and her awareness to nature. With that, at the suggestion of her sisters, Lana recommends a "blindfold" contest.

The game revolves around a player, who is blindfolded to a maze (formed by pumice stones) and then only guided by her teammates' instructions on how to get to the finish line. For that, the Larks select Lani but for the Louds, Leni wants to take initiative since she wants to help in getting Lincoln back. Reluctantly, Lori lets Leni participate. But predictably, Leni loses her way as she cannot tell the difference between right and left, and light and reft from her sisters' instructions. The Louds make matters even worse when they argue who gets to instruct Leni. As for the other party, Lani, being a keen adventurer, makes it out of the maze on time. And setting to another victory for her family, Lani utters, "Sack race!"

For this challenge, as the Larks realize they are outnumbered by one (due to Lena's absence), Lexi volunteers to take this round one more time. For the Louds, Lucy takes confidence for the challenge. The game is similar to the earlier race, only with sacks. While Lexi gets another lead, her energy begins to drain, leading for Lucy, who is simply skipping in constant force, to claim another win. With that, Lucy suggests, "It's time for real war. Tug of war."

There is an exception for this round. All the siblings need to compete for the game, as tug of war is a group effort. Thankfully, the Larks retrieve a nylon rope from the basement. And now, with both sides ready (or nearly ready), they beach each other in a game of pulls of their strength and stamina.

While that is going on, Lincoln tries to call Lori from her phone, but she does not pick it up. "Come on Lori, pick up!"

"What is it Lincoln?" Lena asks as she leans her head to Lincoln.

"Lily's got a whole load. And we're out of diapers," Lincoln says.

"Don't worry. I got a bucket load in the bag," Lena assures. But as she tries to pick up a nappy, she sees none from her bag. "Oh no! Must have used the last one for Lulu earlier."

"Maybe I can pick up some in the market."

"You don't need to. We can go to my place. I think we have extra there."

"But my sisters asked me to watch over Lily."

"Did they say anything about leaving the house?"

"Uhmm I haven't recalled such a thing."

"Then you can take Lily out. Come on. Let's go." And at Lena's suggestion, Lincoln takes Lily with him, along with her baby bag, and heads back to the Lark house with Lena.

Back at the tug of war, the Louds have a bigger advantage with Lynn by their side. And with the combined strength from Luna, Lana and Lori, the Louds exert a better force against the Larks. As for the latter family, they try their best. Loui has the most force among all of them, but she tends to have slippery hands. Lois comes second, courtesy of her warm-up sessions and choreography. And since most of them have stale experience in athletics, this adds little to the strength they need for the game.

At Lynn's overzealous expense, she takes one strong grip at the rope and pulls it to their direction, making the Larks stumble through a domino effect and sealing a victory for the Louds.

"Yes!" the Louds cheer for their victory.

"Nice one, Lynn!" Lana compliments.

"Yeah, you really took this one, sis," Luna adds.

"Never would thought this would come as part of my vocabulary, but good job Lynn," Lucy utters.

"It was nothing. It's Lincoln that matters here. What's important is we will have him back," Lynn replies, making the Louds cheer, "Yeah!"

"We can literally smell victory," Lori comments, "How many points are we so far?"

"It's a five-way tie," Lisa confirms.

"So, that…means…" Leni adds.

"One more, and we get to have Lincoln," Lola finishes her, making the Louds cheer once more.

"Okay Larks, let's get it on!" Lori says with a grin.

"Uhmm guys, can we stop the games first?" Lois persuades them, "Leah's got an asthma attack." Lois gives solid proof when the Louds see Lara patting her younger sister's back and Lexi and Lyra fanning her. This leaves the Loud stunned at to how they should respond. Clearly, out of respect, they need to go for Lois' requests. But since competition is in their blood, their other response is to still push for the games. But at this moment, they choose the former.

"Can we have someone get her medication?" Lacy requests immensely as she calls for a medical clinic.

"Loui, you use to have inhalers right?" Lois asks.

"Wait, yes, there's extra in the kitchen cupboard," Loui recalls.

"Then get it quickly," Lois orders her sister, making Loui rush to the kitchen and retrieve the inhaler. And just as she is about to enter the said area of the house, Lincoln and Lena happen to enter the house and pass by the kitchen, with Lily and Lulu strap to their fronts, respectively.

"Loui, what's going on?" Lena asks, "Why you such in a hurry?"

"Leah's got asthma attack," Loui says alarmingly.

"Oh no, what she's been doing?"

"Well, we were playing tug-of-war with…"

"Wait!" Lincoln suddenly interrupts, "I think I have one last unused inhaler in my pocket." He then reaches out his pocket and picks up the said inhaler. "Got it!"

"Why do you have an inhaler in your pocket?" Lena asks.

"Long story, let's go!"

With that, the three head to the yard. And as they head there, Lincoln becomes shocked at the presence of his sisters there, leading to a shout out.

"Wait, guys!" Lincoln utters.

"Lincoln!" his sisters utter.

"Lincoln!" Lori utters.

"Lori!" Lincoln responds.

"Lori!" Lois utters.

"Lois!" Lori utters.

"Lois?!" Lena joins in.

"Lena?!" Lois utters.

"Her!" the Loud sisters utter.

"Me?" Lena responds.

"Luan!" Luan humorously utter, then looks at the readers of this fanfic, "Hehehe. Get the reference?"

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you guys will go to the flea market?" Lincoln interrogates.

"What are you doing here? I thought you're supposed to watch Lily?" Lori retaliates back.

"I am, right now. I just came here to get diapers since we ran out," Lincoln explains. "I tried to call you but you won't respond."

"Oh please, I would never literally miss a call, but mostly from Bobby," Lori defends. But as she checks out her phone, the older Loud sister discovers 11 missed calls. "Still, mostly from Bobby. But why is she with you?!"

"She came to ask help from me."

"Lena, have you been sneaking out to Lincoln?" Lois asks.

"We are just being best friends," Lena explains with a hint of nervousness.

"Yeah, a best friend who tries to steal our brother from us," Leni says, while being backed up by her sisters.

"Okay, I don't know what's going on here. But no one is stealing me, not even Lena," Lincoln asks.

"Do you need us to literally point out what's wrong here?" Lori berates.

"I don't see anything wrong with your brother hanging out constantly with us," Lois comments.

"You think?!" Lori reacts.

"I mean it's not like he's having his best moments with us."

"You think?!"

"Medic, please?!" Lacy calls out their attention, bringing back the concern to Leah.

Loui then approaches Leah and points the mouthpiece to her mouth, making Leah breathe deeply and restoring her consciousness back slightly.

"I'm kinda good," Leah confirms, making the Larks sigh in relief.

"Just rest while we handle this," Lois says.

"You know what? Let's literally settle this easily," Lori advises, then directs her focus to her brother, "Lincoln, who do you choose, us, your dearest sisters or your neighbors, the Larks?"

And now, Lincoln is placed in the hot seat with Lori's question.

 _Who will he choose? His sisters? Or the Larks?_


	10. Chapter 10

Lincoln is at the ultimate test of his life: choosing between his sisters and the Larks.

He definitely had a delightful time with the Larks but he also has his real sisters by his side. However, the Louds are definitely malevolent when it comes to gaining what they want, but they remain compassionate with each other. As for the Larks, they are nicest group of siblings that Lincoln encountered. They may have some rifts with each other but they prioritize reconciliation, trust and love with each other. To put it easy, it is choosing between an extreme group of sisters to an angelic group of sisters. Likewise, it is as if picking either a bacon cheeseburger or a kale salad. And we all know what is healthier.

But still, even if Lincoln has a hard time with his nagging sisters, he still loves them nonetheless. And they return this love to him in any way they can. Even still, Lincoln feels love from the Larks who constantly find time to accommodate Lincoln, especially Lena, who develops a deep connection to him. And this point of choosing makes it hard for the innocent 11-year-old, especially when he is placed full frontal on the brewing feud between the two groups of sisters.

He glances over his own sisters who are shown to be weary but determined. He knows from their faces that they are serious about his growing bond with another family who gave a better treatment than they do. After that, he takes a glimpse on the Larks who are shown to be vigorous but concerned. He realizes from their facial expressions that they never wanted this feud to happen in the first place. He also looks closely at Leah struggling from breathing to an inhaler.

Minutes go by, and Lincoln can only mutter his words.

Lori then confronts her brother, "Come on, Lincoln. Who do you choose: us or them?"

"Uhmmmm…" Lincoln keeps stuttering, confused as to who to pick. Every minute becomes difficult for him. When he sees Lori in her serious business, he knows things are not getting any better.

If Lincoln will choose his sisters, then they will feel relieved at their definite victory, but the Larks will feel despondent about his words, most especially Lena. He regains his sisters' love but he will lose the Larks.

But if Lincoln will choose the Larks, then they will be grateful at Lincoln's choice, but his sisters will reject him completely. He gains a more endearing family but he will suffer from being disregarded by his sisters.

"Come on, Lincoln. Spit it out!" Lori keeps chastising to her brother, making him even more pressured than ever. Every second is a time bomb, waiting to detonate. His fingers twitch evenly. His face sweats profusely. His head shifts repeatedly. And his mouth stutters loudly.

"Lincoln…" Every time he hears Lori's interrogative threatening, he keeps shuddering in fear. It is really clear that Lincoln is uncertain who to pick among the two. Even though he feels there is no reason to be pressured, and that he can reason out to all about this confrontation, he is reluctant to do so when Lori pushed him hard to the hot seat.

"Lincoln!" At this stage, Lincoln is reaching Lori's boiling point, where his stuttering is clear sign of uncertainty. Pressure keeps building up, and up, and up. And all just witness Lincoln reaching the breaking point.

"Lincoln!"Then Lincoln belches from the top of his lungs, "I don't know! I don't know!" After that, he takes deep breaths from his shouting. Everyone is stunned on Lincoln's words, as this is a first for him.

But not for Lori. "Lincoln, one last time. Us or the Larks?"

Lincoln then takes a deep breath of confusion. Uncertainty is all over his face, but he tries to hide with his unstoppable stuttering. Even still, he fails to hide to Lori that he is undecided.

Seeing her brother speechless, Lori resorts to the best option possible. "Fine, if you haven't decided yet, then we'll decide for you. Girls, let's go!"

"But Lori, why…?" the Loud sisters bring up their concerns collectively.

"Guys, Lincoln has decided," Lori despondently declares.

"But that's not what I decided!" Lincoln justifies.

"Then who do you decide, Lincoln? Us or them?"

And confronted with that proposition, Lincoln goes back to stuttering his words, "I…I…I don't know."

"Well, we'll give you time to decide. In the meantime, they're yours for now, and you'll literally hear from us, no more."

At Lori's vexation, the Loud sisters follow suit with the same feelings. And they all walk out of the Lark premises, taking hard of what become of Lincoln.

"Wouldn't trade for the world, huh?!" Lola scolds at her big brother, followed by Lana giving a snobbish look to him."How could you dude?" Luna spills out her indignant feelings to Lincoln.

"Hope this brings you joy because I ain't laughing!" Luan rebukes.

Lynn follows it up with a direct punch to the left part of Lincoln's chest and sulks her way out of the house. She is followed up by Lucy.

"You are never my brother. Ever," the 8-year-old blurts out severely. "Incompetent," Lisa utters harshly.

After that, Leni then approaches her brother with innocence. As Lincoln tries to smile at her, Leni smirks back but recalls her brother's indecisiveness and slaps his face in response. This leaves her walking out vehemently and Lincoln at utter shock, as this is the first time that Leni does this to him.

Finally, Lori is the last one to walk out. But first, she confronts Lincoln and demands for Lily, who is being held by him. Gently, Lincoln surrenders Lily to Lori. This leaves Lily crying, as she witness being dragged away from her brother. Of course, with a certain hidden intelligence, she is slightly aware of the happenings, which really prompts her to shed in tears.

Before departing the Larks' residence, Lori approaches Lois and reaches out her hand to congratulate her. "You won. You wanted Lincoln. There you go."

"Lori, can we discuss civilly? I am sure Lincoln doesn't mean this to happen," Lois addresses frankly.

"Then we gonna give him time to decide. It's what he gets."

"You shouldn't be hard on your brother."

"Well, why don't you tell that to him for bonding with you and ignoring us?" Lois is stunned at Lori confronting her. But she realizes that Lori is serious on hogging Lincoln's attention to them. "Sorry Lois. You take care."

As Lori walks out, Lincoln bursts into tears. In response, Lena wraps him on her shoulders and makes his head lean onto hers. "There, there Lincoln, it's okay," she tries to comfortingly empathize, "I am sure your sisters don't mean it. It's okay. We're here for you, Lincoln."

With that, Lincoln lets his tears fall on Lena's tender shoulders. She rubs his back in strong affirmation that she is with him in times of grief. The Larks, starting with Lois, approach him with fervor to comfort him. But even though they surround him like family, Lincoln fails to feel the affection that he usually feels when he is morose from a despaired moment, like that moment when he missed watching _ARGGH!_ from the blackout and his sisters took their spare time to watch their homemade video with him, or that moment when he accidentally dropped his show-and-tell project about his sisters and his sisters helped him by presenting themselves as the project. It is at those moments that Lincoln overlooks their flaws and celebrates of them being lovable siblings.

Realizing this, Lincoln suddenly gets up from Lena and rushes to his sisters, startling the Larks.

"Wait guys! Wait!" Lincoln calls out for them.

"Lincoln! Wait!" Lena catches up to him but stops as he completely exits their house.

Back to Lincoln, he slams the door open to his house and searches for his sisters. In a situation, Lincoln gets reminded of the last place where the sisters would lament – their rooms. At that thought, he speeds up to their bedrooms but finds them all to be locked.

"Guys, please!" Lincoln bellows to his sisters, "Look, I am sorry I ignored you all. I don't want to defend myself completely, because I know this is all my fault. I just hope you guys would give me a chance." But behind locked doors, each Loud sister lie down on their beds, listening and grieving. And for every word that Lincoln utters, they shed a tear. However, some sisters, like Leni, Luna, Luan, Lucy and Lana, bury their faces to their pillow to hide their wailing. "I love you the same but I just caught off guard. I did not want this to happen. I hope you would understand. I am sorry I failed as a brother to you all. I'll understand if you will reject me. I deserve it. I hope you would forgive me.

"In his final words, Lincoln drops his body to the floor before he coils like a bug, at the brink of tears.

Later on, he rests on the couch, staring at the trophy glass case where the Loud's achievements are displayed. He is looking at his corner where he is looking at the only trophy he received. The dirges become heavier as he looks back on his failures as a brother to ten sisters who need him, and whom he relies on. After a while, Lena tries to call him on his phone multiple times, but Lincoln ignores answering them.

A knock then comes on the door, and Lincoln drags his wistful body to answer it. On the other side is Clyde, who comes to console for this best friend. "I came once you texted me," he says as he enters the Loud house. "Are you okay, Lincoln?"

But Lincoln only sighs as a response. "Do you remember the time that I took videos of my sisters' embarrassing moments and used it for my project?"

"Yeah buddy. You got busted but you still redeemed yourself by embarrassing yourself."

"Exactly. That's why I remember that one." He then directs Clyde to the only trophy he won, which was actually given by his sisters. "The most improved brother. Never had I will thought that my sisters would do such a thing, despite the mistake I did. Good times. But I let them down."

Understanding the situation he is in, Clyde reaches out to Lincoln with this words of wisdom, "Look Lincoln. I don't wanna act like I know less of the Larks and defend your sisters like crazy. I would just like to say that in a situation like this, just be hopeful. Doesn't mean they hate you now doesn't mean they hate you forever. Just give them time. You'll see."

Lincoln can only take a deep breath at this resolution. "I don't know Clyde. I just feel guilty about this."

"It's okay buddy. Let it out," Clyde consoles to his best friend, embracing him as Lincoln wails at the top of his lungs. "It's okay. It will all be over." Clyde takes the moment for the whole night to comfort his friend. As per loyal friends do, Clyde will always be there for Lincoln. "Do you need anything buddy?"

"Perhaps more tissue will do," Lincoln answers tearfully, "And chocolate milk."

"Don't worry Link. I will serve 'em up for you," Clyde reassures, placing Lincoln back to the couch and giving him a towel to wipe his tears. As he leans on the couch, Lincoln notices the picture frame that he gave his parents for their anniversary. He then takes it from the shelf and hugs it as he rests by the couch. He can only spend the night, heeding from his hurt.

* * *

 **Hey guys! This story is down to its last two chapters. And I want to ask if you want me to do more stories about Lincoln and the Larks, or if there's more you want to know about the Larks. I'm open to suggestions. Thanks!**


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of the week goes somber for Lincoln. For someone who was placed under peer pressure, he tries his best to be optimistic for what is to come. But right now for him, every day falls on an ominous cloudy weather to the tune of "Sleep on the Floor" by The Lumineers.

The next day after the debacle, Lincoln goes back to the Larks with open arms but with sorrow inside and out. In a montage way, he still spends his moments with them, like mountain climbing with Lara, Lexi and Lani, group studying with Loui, Lena and Lacy, jogging with Lois and Lulu in a stroller, and window shopping with Lyra and Leah. And he even gets invited to their dinners. Though he never speaks of his sadness or of the situation to the Larks, especially Lena. Steadily, he becomes weary of bonding with the Larks.

But his times in the Loud House become gradually different. The next day after the debacle, Lincoln observes to be alone in the house. However, he notices that his sisters leave him vegetable omelet for his breakfast. At the end of that day, though the Loud sisters still give him the silent treatment, Luan helps Lincoln in dishes duty. From there, Lincoln observes a rare pattern from his sisters, like willing to assist him in his chores (i.e. Lynn cleaning the bathroom, Lucy sweeping the floor and Lana taking out the trash) and interacting with empathy, as do real sisters do (i.e. Lola consulting to Lori about tolerance, Lisa tutoring Luna while the latter tutoring Lisa about socializing, and Leni learning on Lily's baby needs). Though they sparsely communicate with him through signs, gestures and simple requests, Lincoln feels reconnecting with them. There, he realizes that in spite of his uncertainty, his sisters forgive him regardless.

At a dinner with the Larks, Mr. and Mrs. Lark notices Lincoln losing his appetite as he slowly eats his dish of chicken casserole.

Concerned, Mrs. Lark asks, "Lincoln dear, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Mrs. Lark. Really," he insists, "I will just finish this up."

"Well, if you think you are full, that's fine. Just tell us if you feel something different," Mrs. Lark assures.

"Yeah Lincoln. Is there anything wrong?" Mr. Lark shares his concern as well.

"Nothing, Mr. L. I'm cool."

"Okay, if you say so. Just wait by the living room. The girls will meet you there after they are done with their homework," Mr. Lark says.

"Speaking of which, you might have time to do yours," Mrs. Lark adds.

"It's fine. I already do mine at the school bus a while ago. I will just flip through my chemistry pointers.

"Okay, help yourself," Mrs. Lark replies as she piles up the dishes to the kitchen sink.

While waiting, Lincoln leans weightlessly to the family couch. There, he gets a glimpse once again on the Lark family wall, where the picture frame of each of the Larks is posted, even their pets. One thing is noticeable about the family wall from what Lincoln previously glanced at. It is that a display of antique items, like porcelain figurines and souvenirs from other countries was set on a wooden shelf. But Lincoln recognizes one particular item, which is a porcelain cookie jar with the smiley stick figure drawings engraved on it. He gets a closer look onto it and sees that the drawings resemble the Lark family, including a suspicious member.

"I see you're looking at the family wall," Mrs. Lark in a jogging suit suddenly appears right behind Lincoln while holding their dog.

"I am just amazed, Mrs. Lark," Lincoln comments, "About the family."

"Yes indeed. We have a lot to go through. Gerald and I have been through tough times back in San Francisco to raise the kids. Then, we're here in Royal Woods."

"I see. Mrs. Lark, what's with the cookie jar here?"

"Oh, uhm well, Lincoln, it's best for you not to know. Okay?" Mrs. Lark then takes their dog out for a walk. "Lena's coming. Just wait for her."

After she leaves, Lincoln goes back glancing on the family wall, but most especially, the cookie jar.

Minutes go by, and abruptly, Lena calls him from behind, "Lincoln!"

Lena's unexpected call surprises him from staring blankly to the jar. "Lena, don't surprise me like that."

"Sorry about that," she replies, "Come on!" After which, Lincoln follows her to her room. "We're having fun games."

There, he, Lena, Loui, Lara and Lacy are playing word association as a mean to break from their homework and also to benefit on their daily grammar skills.

It is Lara's turn to pick a word and pronounce it to her sisters. "Hmmm, pink," she points this Loui, who is seated beside her.

"Feminine," Loui answers.

"Mother," Lacy answers.

"Dad," Lena answers.

But when it to his turn, he cannot think of a word to spout out as he changed initial word after learning of what word association really is. "Uhmmm, Top Gear?" The girls laugh at his absurd answer. "Well, I was gonna say girly girl. That's when Loui brought up 'feminine', then Lacy suggested 'mother' and finished with Lena answering 'dad'. And I have my defense for 'Top Gear'."

"If it did air until now," Lara comments.

"You know, I was gonna answer girly girl, but then I analyzed there would be more dignified words to associate with 'feminine'," Lacy shares.

"You could have answered 'sister' or 'daughter'," Loui argues.

"Well, you cannot always associate pink with femininity," Lacy defends, "There are other things that are lathered pink, like gum or dad's music player pill."

"I just remembered Lena when I look upon the family album, she was wearing a princess dress for take-your-daughter-to-work day," Loui shares.

The rest start to laugh. But Lena tries to silence her sister teasingly, "Okay Loui, no. We talked about this."

"Sorry Lena but it was so funny. I couldn't help it," Loui continues, "And then I saw a video from dad that you were actually singing '21 Guns' on karaoke. It was hilarious. It really sounds like a moody person trying to sing Disney." With that, Loui go rolling on the floor with laughter. Lincoln follows suit but loses track when he thinks about his sisters (namely Lola, Luna and Lucy) from their verbal exchange.

"Really smooth move, Loui. But I'll still never forget that time you tried so hard to enter the volleyball team, and I actually get to teach you, and you ended up crashing the family net," Lena shares, "So, who's more embarrassed now?"

"Yeah, I remember that. And actually, I was asked to represent for the class in the volleyball team. Well, it's either that or woodcarving."

"You never told you had woodcarving…" Lacy utters.

"I didn't think of it as a big deal. I never even liked woodcarving. I just thought of it like making vegetable sculptures.."

"It's not as simple as that. It takes creativity, dedication, vision and a good amount of wood varnish to have your art come to life," Lacy enunciates with over-the-top bravura.

"If that's the case, why wooden you offer yourself to teach Loui your ways?" Lara implies.

Lacy then turns to Lara who was behind her and texting, a first in front of her sisters' faces. "I see what you did there. And that's a first. How come you are texting when you don't wanna socialize?"

"I never say that I don't wanna socialize. I said there are times when I want to stay away from socializing," Lara defends her case.

"Fair enough," Lacy replies, "At least you're not frog guy Kyle in my class."

"Frog guy? Was he like a man-frog hybrid?" Lena mockingly asks, "Because that would be freakishly awesome."

"Actually, that would be an awesome discovery if he were that," Lacy goes along with Lena's assumption, "He's just a friend of mine who's also a herpetology enthusiast. But he keeps bumping his pet frogs at my face during lab. He's weird and kinda inept. But I tried to be patient with him, especially with his mad experiments on them."

"That seems a weird choice for a lab partner."

"Trust me, Lena. That's not the only weird thing I have for science."

As for Lincoln, he listens at their lovely verbal exchanges by the sidelines. But even so, their interaction keeps reminding him of his sisters (this time, of Lynn, Leni, Luan, Lori, Lana and Lisa). As much as he gets engaged with the exchanges from the Larks, he feels that the variety has worn off at this point that he moves several paces behind, just to hide his feelings, for a little while.

"Hey Lincoln, you okay there?" Loui suddenly asks to acknowledge his presence.

"Yeah, I am fine," Lincoln replies with a beam on his face.

"Sorry, Lincoln. We got caught off guard when we suddenly shared a lot of stuff," Lena utters.

"This is how we do it here," Lara says, "I am just not the chatterbox type. Leave that to Lyra if she's done with rocking Lulu to sleep."

"Does she even know how to put Lulu to sleep?" Lacy suddenly brings up her concern.

"I showed her the way, but she still needs to be self-taught," Lara replies, "She has a baby book though."

"Where did she get one?"

"Some boy…friend maybe…"

"At least she's being credible with her sources, hopefully. Sometimes, we need to it leave to one, and not as sisters, so we could all grow evenly. It may be hard at first, but hey, it's life."

Hearing Lacy's food for thought finds Lincoln in an eerie position where confusion and unsettling dwells. And it all leads back to thinking about him leaving his sisters' back, and his sisters leaving his back in return. Not wanting to bear the burden, he decides to walk out of the house. "Hey guys, sorry I…have to go back home…" Lincoln tells them after he stands up from the circle, "I will see you guys tomorrow perhaps."

Lincoln walking out is really shocking for the Larks, especially to Lena. With that, Lena catches up to him, right as he walks across the street and towards the Loud's lot.

"Lincoln! Lincoln! Lincoln, what got you…?" Lena asks, trying to catch her breath.

"Lena, if you can...please…just for one night, just stay away from me?" Lincoln asks favorably, "I need an alone time like Lara."

"Lincoln, if this is about us shunning you out, or you and your sisters, then I am sorry."

"Lena, I think I just need some sleep, okay? We'll talk about this tomorrow." Lincoln then enters the Loud house in sheer despondency. Like as mentioned, he never wants to share his hidden feelings to the Larks.

Although she finds this disturbing for some accounts, Lena respects Lincoln's privacy. As she sees Lincoln proceed to his house, she silently utters, "Okay…Lincoln. I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, Lincoln retreats to a breakfast diner where he had bacon and eggs for a lonely brunch. His sisters are still sleeping in the house. So, he takes the opportunity to spend the day, contemplating what he must do to recover from his sisters' scuffle. Confusion left him off guard. For him, it really was a moral issue of being favorable to the Larks than to his sisters. Though that situation could have been repelled if he took it to his own hands, but considering the radical attitude of his sisters, he realizes that this case is a lot bigger than him. But thankfully, he takes the time for them to cool down, enough to be at peace with him. He still has yet to hear their sincere apology.

Right now, Lincoln apathetically scoops a portion of the scrambled egg and wipes it on the plate to dress it with syrup.

Abruptly, Mr. Lark happens to enter the same diner and comes across Lincoln. "Hey Lincoln, my boy, what brings you here?"

"Oh, Mr. Lark, I am just chilling, alone," he answers hesitantly.

"Anyway, nice to see you boy. I am on the rush right now. I have a talk at Ann Arbor. Don't wanna be too late for a long travel. So might as well pack up lunch," the Lark patriarch explains before he takes his order.

After that, he approaches Lincoln on his seat as he waits for his order, "Uhmm, Lincoln, if it's okay…"

"Sure Mr. Lark. Have a seat."

Mr. Lark then seats at the other end of the table. On a striking note, he observes Lincoln's confused expression that is clearly painted on his face. "Lincoln, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing. Just need some alone after my times with Lena and the others."

"They told me a lot about you. They said that they enjoyed your company."

"Really?"

"I am true about it. It is really what they need from our move after that 'happening' in San Francisco. But the past had passed. The important thing is moving forward for a brand new future in Royal Woods."

"Yeah, I see."

"Look Lincoln, I forgot to tell you this. Thank you for being there for my daughters. You see they were having a hard time with the move. Glad you stepped in to be with them. Wouldn't be the same without you."

"Wow…uhmm…I don't know what to say."

"Be grateful, boy. You need it. You're about to be a man. A man protecting your family. You really need it."

Shortly after, a waitress hands over Mr. Lark's to-go order. "Sir, here's your pancake sandwiches, coffee and bottled water. Anything else you need, sir?"

"No thank you. That will be all," Craig Lark replies.

"Alright. Thank you sir for visiting us." The waitress then walks back to the counter.

"Well, Lincoln, have to run. You stay good okay?"

"Will sure do," Lincoln replies.

With that, Mr. Lark departs from the diner and heads off to Ann Arbor. Lincoln witnesses this, since he has nothing else to do than to mope. He then reflects on what Mr. Lark said to him. Upon reflecting, he pulls out a picture from the living room picture frame of him and his sisters. He recollected the same old thoughts he had before, and they become more relevant now. Just realizing how much he loves them unconditionally makes him shed some tears that fell onto the picture.

Suddenly, all the Lark sisters show up in front of him.

"Lincoln, there you are!" Lena hollers to him, which surprises the latter.

"Lena, can you stop that? And what are you guys doing here?" Lincoln asks of them, "I told you I want to be alone for a while."

"We're just worried about you," Lois answers.

"Yeah, you being our brotherly neighbor, it really says a lot to see you lonely," Lexi adds.

"Wait, how did you find me here?" Lincoln inquires of them.

"Dad texted me that you were here," Lena confirms, "He told me that you were being moody here."

"And it concerns us that you suddenly walked out," Loui adds more to the table.

Still being in denial, Lincoln takes a deep sigh that he is being cornered over what was going through his head currently.

"Lincoln, anything we need to know that we may help you on?" Lacy asks, to which the other Larks voice out their similar concerns. However, at their tone, they sound more sisterly compassionate. Even Lulu is showing support for him.

"Guys, it's not much of a bother. It's something I need to think about and then shrug off afterwards," Lincoln explains.

"It's about your sisters, isn't it?" Lena confronts the obvious elephant in the room.

He then suddenly bolts it out, "Yes, it's about my sisters, okay?"

"You shouldn't feel hard about it," Lois advises him.

"It's one situation that we can't get out of, but we can let go off, right?" Lyra adds.

"Just tell us Lincoln, what's bothering you? About your sisters?" Lara questions him.

With a deep sigh, Lincoln finally expounds his situation, "I don't know. I just feel guilty for not considering them, even though they kept pushing me. I was supposed to be the one to balance our well-being. I love them for who they were, even though they kept meddling, intruding and messing up my life. Yes, we have flaws. Lori has her eyes fixed on her phone, but there are times when she was willing to take the lead. Leni is really clumsy, but she is clever at times. Luna is loud and wild, and that's what makes her awesome. Luan annoys with her puns and pranks, but she is trying to make us happy. Lynn is hard to keep up with, and you know what, it's fine because she can always lend a strong hand. Lucy keeps appearing out of thin air but she is also creative and helpful. Lana loves things gross but she loves how the world grows around her, and that's something to appreciate. Lola is a menace, but even menaces have a soft spot and a sweet heart. Lisa may be the most hard to top when it comes to intelligence but it's great to learn from her. And Lily, sweet Lily, there's a lot to look forward from her, even though she only knows how to wheeze blueberries. I love my sisters for who they are. And if I lose them, I don't know…"

He then overthinks of the situation. Given Lincoln's worries on being a devoted brother to his sisters, it is no surprise that he treads upon the thoughts of "losing them" as somewhat tormenting. "Sorry guys. I have to go." Upon that, he suddenly abandons his plate and hurries his way out of the diner.

"Wait Lincoln!" Lena shrieks as she watches Lincoln gets his bike and rushes his way. "Lois, let's follow him."

"Lena, I think he had enough of us today," Lois voices out her concern.

"But what if later, something bad might happen to him?"

"Lena, Lois' right. We should not worry that much about Lincoln," Lara comes to her older sister's defense, "Besides, are you not worried that you might make him distance away from you if you kept being concerned from him? He's not 'you know who'."

"He is to me." With that, Lena walks out of the establishment and tries to catch up to Lincoln.

Frustrated, Lois leads the others to catch up to both of them, "Come on guys! We need to fix this up."

Hearing that, the Larks head out of the diner and to their family SUV. Though, Lani almost leaves herself behind when noticing that Lincoln has not finished his brunch; thus, she finishes it up for him, until Lara shows up for her.

Back at Lincoln, he bikes his way through the outskirts and towards his house. The worry of loss still trembles in him along the way. Nevertheless, he keeps himself determined to make amends to his sisters.

As he arrives in the house, Lincoln heads to his sisters' rooms to see them to be gone. He alarmingly searches the whole house from top to bottom, to absolutely nothing. For all he knows, he realizes his presumptions about losing them came true. "Guys, where are you?! Lori? Leni? Luna? Luan? Lynn? Lucy? Lana? Lola? Lisa? Lily? Anybody? Guys?!" Finding them gone just causes more worries to Lincoln.

The Larks, including Lena, are able to catch up to him at his house. Lena sees Lincoln at his knees and in total panic.

"Lincoln, are you okay?!" Lena asks in concern.

"Lena, guys?! What are you doing here? Can you just stop following me?" Lincoln bolts out to the Larks.

"Not unless you tell us what is going on," Lara says.

"Lincoln, you walked out of us twice. This is really a concern now," Loui elaborates.

"Can't you see? My sisters are gone! They are gone because of me!"

"I know there must be a suitable explanation for this situation," Lacy attempts to pacify him, to no avail.

"Guys, if you're not going to help, I think you should leave me here."

Then Lena suddenly exclaims, "But Lyndon?!"

"Lyndon?!"

"Lena!" the Larks scold at Lena for mentioning that name – Lyndon.

"Okay Lena, you've been mentioning that name a thousand times. And you've been hiding of it as a mistake. Tell me, who is this Lyndon you are mentioning?"

As Lincoln confronts her with that concern, Lena suddenly breaks down in tears, making her clutch to Lois, who is close to where she is standing. Her weeping turn uncontrollable, alarming Lincoln of what was behind of all these.

"I guess it's time for you to know the truth," Lois utters sincerely, "Lyndon is our brother."

Hearing that revelation makes them all quiver. Lyndon's name was never mentioned to anyone of them. So, it is startling for Lincoln to hear that there was a brother amongst the Larks, which answers makes him recall the mysterious carving that he found etched on the cookie jar he saw in the living room."What happened to him?" Lincoln asks empathetically.

"It was a long story, dear Lincoln," Lacy affirms.

And the revelation is unveiled.


	13. Chapter 13

_Flashback_

 _Lois: Lyndon is like no other. He was the best brother we ever have; well, the only brother we ever have._

At a family dinner, Lyndon arrives, holding a chicken platter on a tray and serving to his family. Lyndon has a little resemblance to Lincoln, with the buck teeth, the freckles, the skin complexion, the height and the family constancy. He has the same messy hair that Lena has. He wears glasses, a long-sleeved buttoned-up polo with a cyan collared shirt on top of it, leggings and topsider shoes, just to show how much of a young hipster he is.

From the kitchen, their mother pronounces, "Girls, Lyndon's coming with his meal."

Lyndon then arrives the "Hey guys! Here's my very own special recipe. Orange chicken for you!" Lyndon announces, letting his sisters give him a round of cheers and applause.

"Yey! Thanks for this Lyndon!" Lyra praises him, "Can't wait to taste your cooking."

"It was nothing, dear sister," he replies.

Leah is the first one to taste Lyndon's cooking. Needless to say, she finds herself liking his dish. "This is great Lyndon. A great mixture of sweet and savory, as my teacher points out."

"How were you able to cook orange chicken?" Loui asks.

"Oh, I just self-taught from a couple of books, and might have asked tiny help from you know who." He is referring to the experienced sibling in the kitchen, Lois.

"So, it's not your own recipe?" Lexi raises an eyebrow to her brother, "Knew it. You cannot even raise the standards on my recipe for orange juice."

Suddenly, an orange slice is tossed to Lexi's face, done by Lena herself. "Oh sorry, I didn't ci-trus that. Haha."

Annoyed, Lexi beats Lena up. This makes Lyndon rush to them and stop Lexi from her actions. "Lexi, if you stop now, I would give you my cheats for _Clash of Clans._ "

"The base upgrades?" Lexi asks him while pushing Lena's face.

"I will give them to your base," Lyndon clarifies, "Just let go off Lena."

With the condition settled, Lexi lets go off Lena and proceeds back to her seat.

"You okay?" Lyndon asks his twin sister.

"Yeah, I am fine, twinnie," Lena replies.

"Hope you are," Lyndon replies back with a rub on her messy hair to mess it up hair. Naturally, Lena is happy with her twin teasing her.

 _Lara: Lyndon was the heart and soul of this family. Just like you, he finds the time to help each one of us._

One time, Lani is having a hard time doing her math homework. Since she is still starting kindergarten, mathematics is really new for her. But being adventurous at whatever exploit that comes in her way, the 4-year-old tries her best to understand what she is seeing.

Luckily, Lyndon comes across her. "Hey Lani, what's up?"

"Oh Lyndon, glad you're here. I need your help," Lani says, then she takes his hand to drag him to her dilemma, "I have this homework in math. And it's addition. I haven't really learned this before. So having trouble. Can you help me?"

"Sure, what you got?" Lyndon asks, then reads Lani's homework, "So, 8 + 2 equals what? This is a piece of cake." He then explains the homework to his learning sister. "Okay Lani, you're an adventurer. And as an adventurer, you need food in your trip. Let's say you have eight apples in your backpack. You ate them all but you're still hungry. So, you get two more apples. How many apples you ate?"

"Let's see," Lani then counts with her fingers, "I ate eight apples, then I ate two more. Eight, nine…ten? Ten! Ten apples I ate."

"Very good. You're learning!" Lyndon exclaims, "Just remember for addition, you have this stuff, you bring more stuff, then you count them all."

"Gee brother, I am really learning. Thanks for the help!"

"Don't mention it. Just whenever you need help, I am here."

"Thanks!" Lani then leaps onto Lyndon, and they embrace each other.

* * *

At a sunny afternoon, Lyndon stumbles upon Lara, Leah and Lexi having trouble with their mural. At that situation, Lexi actually vandalized Leah's artwork of a flower girl. So, the two sisters berate Lexi for her action.

"My precious illustration, ruined!" Leah enunciates.

"We took all day, just to trace this and draw this completely," Lara scolds.

"Well, I gotta say, she's incomplete without a mustache. Haha!" Lexi mocks her, enraging Lara.

Seeing this, Lyndon comes up with a solution after spotting the cardboard that was used to trace Leah's drawing to wall and seeing the wall completely bare. He pastes the cardboard on the white wall and throws a bucket of paint to Lara.

"Hey Lexi, what'd you say for a paint fight?!" Lyndon excitedly exclaims, convincing Lexi to do the same to her sisters. The two then throw assorted paint at each other, which rolls the eyes on Lara and Leah.

"Guys, you're wasting paint!" Leah utters her concern.

"Well, you wouldn't know the possibilities of paint if you don't use them all," Lyndon retorts before he splashes to the two, making them more annoyed. Nevertheless, they join with their siblings playing.

In the end, the three realize that Lyndon actually did everything on purpose to make a display of colors as the mural itself with the cardboard used to impose an image of a flower girl. They can only glance at the accidental artwork they created while covered in assorted paint.

"This is beautiful, Lyndon," Leah comments, "I never seen such beautiful picture of colors like this. Thanks Lyndon!" She then proceeds to hug her brother.

"Yeah, good job, bucko," Lara follows suit.

"Such a genius," Lexi lastly follows. "Though I would still put a bucket on your head."

"Oh really?" Lyndon replies, then sneakily places a bucket on Lexi's head as a payback prank. The siblings then proceed to laugh at each other for the great time they had.

* * *

At one night, Lacy walks to her room but gets shocked when she sees Lulu inside the terrarium of her pet iguana. "Lulu, what you're doing in there?" She then takes her out and checks out of any deficiency that might have occurred. Luckily, Lulu is safe, as confirmed by her giggles.

"Thank goodness, you're safe," Lacy remarks, "How do you get in there?"

"La la!" Lulu utters in gibberish.

"That's good," Lacy replies, "But where's Garry? Lois?!"

Hearing her name, Lois proceeds to Lacy's room. "What's up sis? And why did you shout my name?"

"You were the only person here a while ago. So you must be the one who placed Lulu inside!" Lacy blames her sister.

"Why? I would never place our precious baby sister inside your iguana's terrarium," Lois defends.

"Well, then who did?!"

"Who knows? But shouldn't you be concerned of your iguana?"

"Oh no, you're right. Time to feed him. He's gonna bite! Garry!" Then the two search the whole house for Lacy's iguana, to no sign.

"Garry!"

"Garry! Where are you?!"

"Garry! Come out boy!"

"Garry!"

With absolutely no sign of Garry, Lois and Lacy rendezvous back to Lacy's room.

"Have you seen him?" Lacy asks in a panicky manner.

"No," Lois confirms.

"Oh no! This is bad! What if something bad happens to him, or anyone else?!" Lacy utters her worries.

Then suddenly Lyndon knocks on the door and shows up with Garry on his arms. "Uhmm guys, need a little help here. He's kinda cranky, so I tried to hug him tightly, so he cannot eat anything in sight."

Then suddenly, Garry ends up biting Lyndon's hand. Lyndon wants to scream but he holds it for no certain panic to happen.

"Okay, very good Lyndon," Lacy remarks softly, "Now, just don't move your hand or your skin will shred. Lois, please hold Garry from below. I'll slowly take his jaws off Lyndon." With that, Lois follows Lacy's plans but Lyndon takes it to his own hands to return Garry to his habitat.

"I got this," Lyndon stresses, "Just open the terrarium, and Lacy, get his jaw off of my fingers."

With no other option, since Lyndon approaches the glass-cased enclosure, Lois opens the terrarium cover and their brother places Garry back to his rightful place, with Lacy properly releasing Garry's jaws off of Lyndon. And as they successfully return him and enclose him in his place, Lyndon screams in pain from Garry's bites. Immediately, Lacy rushes for her emergency first aid kit while Lois heeds the pain away.

Fortunately, iguanas do not have toxins on their bites but their bites are very sharp. So, it is pretty much like getting a large paper cut. With that, Lacy and Lois bandage Lyndon's hand.

"How you doing little bro?" Lois asks.

"Really well," Lyndon replies with feeling pain, "If it weren't for the alcohol."

"It's so brave of you to do that. Thanks!" Lacy expresses her gratitude and then kisses her brother by the forehead, followed by Lois and Lulu. "Anyway, where you find him?"

"Oh, I saw him crawl out of Lexi's room," Lyndon confirms.

Hearing this from their trustworthy brother, the girls shout for their younger troublemaking sister, "Lexi!"

In response, Lexi gulps in fear and hides from their sight.

* * *

On another time, Loui and Lyra are selling their own cookies, $5.99 per box. Since they have been inspired by Lois, who taught them how to bake delicacies, they decide to sell their own in front of their backyard. Their order for the day is red velvets and chocolate crinkles. But nobody drops by. Well, except for a neighborhood mother who says their cookies are fine but not as fine as Girl Scout cookies.

"Are you sure this is a good part of the day to sell?" Loui asks her sister.

"I would say. My classmate sells after class, so I think Monday afternoon could do," Lyra replies assuredly.

"But we've been here for the whole day in five days straight," Loui emphasizes.

But abruptly, the two see unfortunately a Girl Scout selling cookies at their next door neighbor and gaining huge returns. Seeing this as a disadvantage, the girls groan from hopelessness.

"What's the point of this Lyra?" Loui shares her despair.

"We're just trying to be as good as Lois," Lyra replies sadly, "I guess we're not."

But as they nearly prepare to take down their stall, Loui and Lyra suddenly see a horde of kids approaching them in a fast pace, holding their money in the air. With that, they set up their products again and await for their customers to approach them.

Out of the crowd of kids pops out Lyndon, who tell them, "Sorry if this is such a huge line of customers. They really wanted your cookie after I showed them at class."

Hearing that motivates the two to speed up handing over their cookies to the kids. After the cookies are selling like hotcakes to kids and interested adults, the siblings count their income, which totals $922.46, to their ecstatic surprise.

"It's more than we hoped for!" Loui exclaims.

"I know!" Lyra replies, "But Lyndon, how were you able to gather such kids?"

"Oh, there was luckily a pep rally at school, so I brought one of your cookies and showed them to my classmates and the upper kids," Lyndon explains, "Needless to say, they like it."

"Awww…thanks Lyndon," Loui and Lyra show their gratefulness and then hug their brother in return.

* * *

 _Lacy: But importantly, he was the only friend and twin brother that Lena can rely on. Lena was the lonely one. So Lyndon would take the time to cheer her up._

Lyndon arrives at his room with a cupcake box. There, he sees a blanket fort that was set at Lena's bed. As seen, Lyndon and Lena are in the same room together since they are twins. Usually, he and Lena set up blanket forts as part of playing. So, it's a surprise for him that Lena set up one herself. He approaches it to see Lena crying, with her knees covering her face. He moves her legs to see makeup messed on her face.

"Hey Lena, what's wrong?" Lyndon asks.

"Twinnie, do you think I am beautiful?" Lena asks.

"Of course you are," the twin brother assures sympathetically.

Holding her tears, she answers sobbingly, "I was trying to impress this cute guy. So, I took the advice of the cool girls there to put me makeup him notice me. I tried my best, but they laughed at me. Now, my entire class just laughs at me, like that didn't happened to me before."

"Lena, you're beautiful just the way you are. Never mind those kids who bully you and who think you are not worthy. They don't mean anything," Lyndon encourages her as he wipes away her tears, "Look, it's hard, I know. But you shouldn't look down on yourself. You are Lena, one of the most beloved people I know. And the coolest hipster I know. And you have a lot to show. Don't be put down, just because others or other times put you down. Instead, be strong and show them love."

"Why? Weren't you the one who told me that bullies are pests?"

"They are. But they are still people who need love. So, show them…"

"I don't know. You know me."

"It's okay. Look Lena, you are beautiful, just the way you are. It's okay to be yourself, but do it out of love. How about this? Think of your classmates as Leonard the Bear. He may be mean in the cartoon, but in reality, he's cute." He then takes out a baby blue plush teddy bear, which the twins got from a claw machine.

In response, Lena embraces her brother in tears. "Ohh Lyndon, what would I do without you?"

"It's okay, Lena. I love you too."

After taking a moment to sink the emotions in and let it subside, Lyndon then gives the last blueberry cupcake from the box to Lena. "Here, something to cheer you up. I got that from that café downtown. It has this great display of 80's items. Awesome."

Lena accepts it, and then slowly chews a bit. Delighted, she embraces her brother back, "Thanks brother! I love you…"

After that, Lyndon thinks of another way to resolve Lena's worries through play. "Hey! Ranger Lenora, I cannot seem to intercept any signal from this cave. Can you read? Over…"

Realizing what he is doing, Lena follows along, "Ranger Johnson, it's too dark in here. Can you hear my voice? Over…"

"Hold on Ranger Lenora! I think there's a beast in the cave. Over!"

Then the twins take all night of playing as cave explorers. There are a lot of moments between them. And this is just one of them.

* * *

 _Loui: It was just great with him around. Whenever trouble comes around, he was always there to help us._

 _Leah: Even at times when we feel sad, he is there to brighten up the day._

At the latest family Thanksgiving, Lyndon sits down with his entire family. He places himself at the rightmost end, which prompts him to observe his siblings who are shown to be either despondent or upset from what had been throughout their days.

Suddenly, his dad, Craig Lark, calls out to him, "Lyndon, since you are seated there, can you lead us into prayer before our Thanksgiving meal?"

"Well, sure dad," Lyndon willingly replies, "Dear Lord, we thank you for this wonderful meal we get to enjoy together as one family. There are times that we are separated. So, I thank you Lord that despite our days being hard and lonely, we still found the time to come together. I thank you Lord for mom, for dad, for Lois, for Lacy, for Lara, Lyra and Loui, for Lexi, Leah and Lani, for dear Lulu, for our pets, and for my dear twin sister Lena. I thank you Lord for school and for a big house that we get to stay in. I feel like all of this, we are the luckiest people on earth. I love them. So I thank you Lord. And I thank you Lord for more times to come that we may celebrate life together as one big, happy family. Thank you God. We love You. Amen."

With that, his family gives him a round of applause for his wonderful family prayer.

"That's my boy," Mr. Lark replies with a rub to his hair.

"I am proud of you son," Mrs. Lark follows it with a kiss to his forehead, "Happy Thanksgiving to you!"

Followed by that, his sisters approach and give him a hug, "Thanks Lyndon. We love you too!"

Additionally, Lena kisses him by the cheek. "Happy Thanksgiving Lyndon!" And they both embrace.

 _Lyra: Those times with him are just…genuine. We would not feel complete without him. We thought everything wouldn't be the same…_

 _Lexi: That is until the worst happened._

* * *

Lyndon is rushed to the emergency room after collapsing while climbing the steps to his school. The doctors examine him to discover that the 11-year-old Lark brother has been diagnosed with intracerebral hemorrhage or cerebral bleed.

Hearing the news, the whole family rushes to the hospital to see their brother attempting to be resuscitated. However, the doctors are not getting anything.

 _Lena: It's horrible seeing my poor dear brother in the operating room. ICH, they said. But we cannot accept it. They operated him several times, just to stop the bleeding. And we tried to be strong from everything._

After learning Lyndon's prognosis from the physicians, Craig and Lauren Lark take the efforts to encourage people to donate for their son's operations. The sisters do the same thing, while at the same time praying and hoping for their brother to recover.

However, as Lyndon's condition worsens, the Larks find themselves difficult to cope up with situation. Mr. Lark shortens his keynote presentations to avoid bringing up his sorrow. Mrs. Lark stops seeing patients and seeks help from fellow psychologists. Lois halts her tenure in her dance crew, just to aid Lyndon. Lacy and Lyra use their school positions to help find donors. Lara and Loui do the same thing. Lexi, Leah, Lani and Lulu express their worries on show-and-tell portions. And finally, Lena stands up to her classmates who bully her, but still shows her frailty from the situation. As an effect, her classmates are stunned.

By the time comes before Lyndon's fourth surgery (and the riskiest one), the Lark visit Lyndon one last time. But Lyndon is not the same Lyndon as they knew, seeing that he has a decreased level of consciousness. Nevertheless, he tries to speak up, "Guuuuuuyyysss…"

"Lyndon…" Mrs. Lark utters, but breaks down, not wanting to see her on suffer.

"It's okay Lyndon," Mr. Lark says, "Just rest. We are here for you."

Lena rushes to him in desperation, "Lyndon, please! You can do this! Don't leave us!"

"I am not…lea…ving," he mutters gradually, "I'm al…ways…in here." He then slowly points to Lena's heart. "Show…Hi…s…love." And with that, he shuts his eyes to sleep.

"Lyndon? Lyndon! Lyndon! Please! Don't leave us! Don't leave me!" Lena desperately wails. However, the doctors lead the Larks out as Lyndon is directed to the surgical room. This is the last time that the family gets to see Lyndon in his living breath.

 _Lena: But nope. Not matter how much we hoped and believed…Lyndon...he was gone._

 _Lois: It was a difficult time. But we are thankful that a lot of people showed their support to help us in this situation._

It was on the morning of the 2nd of June 2016 that Lyndon Christopher Ortiz Lark passed away from intracerebral hemorrhage. The whole family holds a funeral service where the entire clan, his friends and other loved ones gather to be at solemnity for his passing. Everyone dear to the Larks express their condolences, even Lena's classmates who gain her respect. All just take their time to show their empathy on such a hard situation.

 _Lois: But days got harder for us. The bills outpoured from the operations. Thankfully, donors came but we became bankrupt. Mom and dad had to give up their jobs, just to cover the funeral costs. And we as siblings had a hard time seeing a life without Lyndon. But the hardest hit came to Lena, who felt useless without her dear brother._

Two weeks after Lyndon's burial, the family settle despondently in the living room, as Mr. Lark difficultly announce their next plans as a family. However, Lena leaves herself in her room, depressed as she clings on Leonard the Bear.

 _Lacy: Thankfully, a friend of mom's, who is also a psychologist, help us recover from the situation by making us accept Lyndon's fate and getting rid of any memorabilia we have from him, just to help us recover. Out of our own hesitancy, especially Lena's, we did._

 _Lara: And that leads us to a new stage in our life. Dad found an opportunity in Michigan that can help us recover financially. At the suggestion of everyone, we left our life in San Francisco completely and moved here in Royal Woods._

 _Loui: And then we saw you. You moved in to our lives. Your presence and your…character reminds of him. Lincoln, you reminded us of Lyndon. That's why we like and we accept you as our own._

Then glimpses of Lincoln's first encounters with Lark are remembered, to the point of slowly accepting him to their family.

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

"And that is why we want to apologize to you if we caused those fractures in your relationship with your sisters," Lois says in behalf of her sisters.

Stunned from the story they presented, Lincoln replies radically, "I understand Lois. It is okay. It is my fault anyway for ignoring them. But I have to tell this. You cannot just accept me, just to fill in the gaps for you. Sometimes, we just have to accept that life is like that. And we have to move on."

"You're not angry, are you?" Lyra asks.

"No, I am not mad," Lincoln clarifies, "I am just concerned. I am sorry what you have been through."

From there, Lena tries her best to hold her tears and blurt this out, "You know what, I admit! I still hold Lyndon in my heart! I still have his stuff stuffed in the cookie jar!"

"Oh, so that's the reason it's heavy," Lexi remarks.

But I am not going to let that drag me down. Or us down. For now, we have to help Lincoln find his sisters as soon as possible!"

"But Lena, why the sudden burst?" Lara asks.

"Because Lyndon told me to show love, even if others put me down. He told me to be strong and to bring them love. He's up there now with the Lord. So, it's time to honor him by helping Lincoln find his sisters. What do you say girls?"

Lois then steps up for her sisters and enunciates, "You heard her girls. What do you say?"

"Yeah!" the Larks respond.

Amazed by Lena's sudden display of determination, Lincoln rallies the Larks, "Okay guys, all hands together! Let's find my sisters!" And with all hands together, Lincoln and the Larks cooperate to find the Loud sisters.


	14. Chapter 14

With the Larks in full support, Lincoln settles on their next agenda, "Okay, my sisters never left a note inside the house or on the fridge. But we have to find them around the city, or if they are in the city? Or what if they really moved out without me? What if they left me for good?"

"Okay Lincoln, first, snap out of your overthinking and let's get this through," Lara persuades, "If you were one of your sisters, where would you go?"

That had Lincoln thinking, and he easily knows the answer. "The mall. That's right."

"Okay good, everyone, board the SUV!" Lois orders them all, making them rush to the car and driving them straight to the mall.

As they arrive there, the Larks are easily amazed by how vast the mall is in Royal Woods, as it is back in the West Coast.

"Man, this place is so huge!" Lani remarks, "And brighter than ours!"

But Lincoln snaps them back to their present agenda, "Okay guys, let's split up, so we can find them faster."

"Good thinking," Lois replies, "Lani and Loui, come with me. Leah and Lyra, let Lara lead you. Lacy, take Lulu and Lexi with you."

"Why do I have to take Lexi?!" Lacy complains.

"Do this now and you'll never have to mind about her again!" Lois insists.

"Fine, but I'll only do this for Lincoln," she retorts.

"And I'll go with Lincoln," Lena reminds.

"Good, let's just hurry!" And at Lois' signal, the group disperses into four units in search of Lincoln's sisters.

Lois, Lani and Loui check out the department store and ask the clerks there, to absolutely no sign of the Loud sisters. Unfortunately for them, they get trampled by ongoing shoppers who stampeded to their direction, due to a high-demand sale. Still, the trio moves on with the search.

Meanwhile, Lara, Leah and Lyra search in the supermarket and inquire from the workers and the shoppers, to absolutely no sign of them. However, they spot a group of girls who resemble the Louds from their rear physical appearances, but they accidentally stumble upon their doppelgangers. Though the three apologize, they inadvertently cause a chain of misfortunes when they move to their backs that caused a balanced stock of cans to fall, hitting nearby shoppers and product displays. Thus, they quietly slip away.

As for Lacy, Lexi and Lulu, Lacy takes consultation from an interactive touch-screen application of the mall map to take note of possible whereabouts of the Louds. However, Lexi haphazardly plays with the touch-screen monitor that causes it to malfunction, much to the dismay of the queued visitors who wish to try out the app. They successfully evade from the clutches of the group and coincidentally lead them to the same stampeding crowd from the department store. It is all looking like a Benny Hill sketch.

And finally, for Lincoln and Lena, after searching the whole mall from top to bottom, they end up dredging through a chocolate fair, as assumption on the fact that Lincoln's sisters are chocoholics. While they are on their search on every stall, Lena tries to engage Lincoln into a conversation in an attempt to appease him, seeing his hasty attitude. Despite her motivating her sisters to search for Lincoln's beloved sisters, the 11-year-old has still the hidden rancor of Lincoln directing his attention to his own sisters.

She then shares, "Lincoln, I know we are pretty on the run for a good reason, and I know you are reasonably worried about losing your sisters, but Lincoln, shouldn't you slow down for once?"

"Why would I slow down?" Lincoln replies bleakly, "If I don't find them now, I might lose them forever."

"Lincoln, slow down. It's not like they are cruel or something. Maybe they just need a break or something…" Lena assumes, but Lincoln ignores her.

"Lori! Leni! Luna! Luan! Lynn! Lucy! Leni! Lola! Lisa! Lily! Where are you?!" he shrieks out their names at the top of his lungs. But Lena covers his mouth from gaining unwanted attention.

"What are you thinking?!" she asks.

"What is it look I'm doing?"

"You shouldn't be shouting their names. Not that way."

"What do you suggest?!"

"Why don't you calm down first, and we can settle this peacefully."

"We have no time, Lena."

"We can spare time."

"Then, why you keep on holding me back?"

"I am not holding you back. I just don't want to see my best friend worried."

"Well, I have to. It's my sisters I'm worried about."

"You can't just worry about your sisters forever!"

"Why not? You don't know them more than I do!" At Lincoln's sudden burst, Lena feels stunned to tears of witness her best friend shout at her. "I love my sisters, okay? And I hate to lose them."

"Right…Okay…" Lena despondently replies.

However, Lincoln notices Lena's sudden upset and takes it to his own hands on straightening it out to Lena. "I am sorry, Lena. I just never been so worried before in my life. I really am sorry. I just don't like losing all my loved ones, especially my sisters. Yes, they bug me out. Yes, they love to meddle me a lot. Yes, their behavior may come to annoy me. But I love them. But that doesn't mean I will disown myself from you. We will still be best friends. I will still be a good brotherly friend to you and your sisters. My only wish is for you to all get along. I hope you understand."

Though she is still deeply hurt at Lincoln's sudden burst of emotions, Lena rests on hoping for the late Lyndon to give her a clear direction. Thus, she forgives Lincoln. "I forgive you." By the end, she embraces Lincoln affectionately. "What a day was, today."

"Yeah, sure is," Lincoln agrees.

Afterwards, all groups of the Larks converge to them in their respective comeuppances; Lois, Loui and Lani have their hairs and bodies messed up from being trampled on; Lara, Lyra and Leah are nervously hiding their antics from the supermarket with a nervous smile; and Lacy holds Lexi by her hood.

"Have you guys got anything?" Lincoln asks.

But they all disappointingly answer, "No."

"Nothing from the department store," Loui shares.

"Also from the customer service and the floor map touch-screen app that this twerp played with," Lacy says with pointing on Lexi's mistake.

"I said I was sorry. Sheesh," Lexi emphasizes.

"Also, none in the supermarket, expect angry shoppers," Lyra utters nervously.

"Yeah, speaking of which, we better run or we'll never catch with your sisters," Lara persuades.

And with that, the group heads out.

"Okay, if you're sisters are not in the mall, where would they be?" Lois inquires Lincoln.

"Hmmm, the park!" Lincoln presumes.

At that assumption, the group heads back to the car and drives towards the park, which is barely empty as the evening falls. Only a dating couple and a hermit are seen wandering around the park premises. Afterwards, the group drives past known establishments like the school (some of which were closed) in hopes of finding his sisters, to absolutely no avail.

"Sorry Lincoln, no sign of them," Lois utters, putting Lincoln into more disappointment.

"Don't worry Lincoln, we'll find your sisters," Leah assures, making the Larks agree with her.

"Besides, it's not like we had already searched the entire city for them," Loui adds.

"What if we broadcast to the entire city that we are looking for her sisters?" Lyra suggests.

"Like that would happen, Lyra," Lacy replies, "I mean not to be hopeless, or even to say that suggestion is implausible, but how would the radio broadcasters would allow such a news to go on air?"

"They would. We just have to enforce them that Lincoln's desperate," Lois responds, making her take the direction towards the radio station, "That could gauge audience interest, right?"

"Right, if in a populist setting," Lacy answers.

"Then this would work. Trust me," Lois says as she drives the gang back downtown.

As they are on their way, Lena takes a sight on Gus Games and Grub, an establishment that Lincoln thinks would be the last place for his sisters to go to, and sees, from a distance, Lincoln's ten sisters dining in there.

This places Lena in a forked road where her encounter could lead to any unpredictable direction. If she tells the others of what she saw, she might lose Lincoln as he might revert his focus back to his sisters. But if she does not tell the others, she might keep Lincoln hopeless and disappointed; though his hopelessness would be a perfect avenue for her to support Lincoln's emotions and make them as compatible partners. At the verge of every second, she gets more pressured, as Lincoln was previously. She then thinks about Lyndon, and what would the unconditional Lyndon do in this situation. And realizing how much his love and dedication had changed the family, seeing how much it reminds her of a far greater love than she never felt before, she finally chooses the right thing.

"Wait guys stop!" she bellows, making Lois push the brakes of the SUV. This allows Lena to go down from the car and rush to Gus' Games and Grub.

Lincoln catches up to her from behind. "Lena, wait! Where are you going?"

"Where is Lena going?" Loui asks.

"I don't know. We should follow her," Lyra suggests.

"Let me park first," Lois responds.

Back at Lena, she suddenly takes a short glimpse of the Loud sisters, feasting and bonding over five boxes of pizza; with Lori feeding Lily with a cheese dough, Leni and Luna taking selfies, Luan showing Lana a video from her phone, Lynn and Lucy teasing each other by making funny faces with pizza on their teeth, and Lola and playing with the pizza dough. At that point, she understands how much they mean to Lincoln, and vice versa. With that, she accepts it satisfyingly.

Lincoln is able to catch up to her. "Lena, what's it with you?"

She then points Lincoln to his sisters, which, upon seeing them, brings him a sense of joy. In faith, Lena just lets him savor at finally seeing his sisters.

Lincoln then slowly enters the pizza parlor in sheer delight. "Guys?" he utters.

Despite being busy on their own businesses, the girls hear the voice of their beloved brother and respond, "Hey Linky!"

"We were waiting for you, dude," Luna says.

"Waiting for me?" Lincoln replies, "But I thought you left me behind?"

"Well, you left when we all woke up," Lynn explains.

"But in such a hurry, I literally texted you instead," Lori bridges the gap, "You literally did receive my message, right?"

"A text? I haven't received any..." Lincoln says, then checks his phone, only to discover it to be on zero charge. "Oh. Hehehe. Should have charged my phone."

"Oh bro, we're sorry," Lori formally apologizes to her brother, giving him a hug, alongside with his sisters.

"Sorry for what? I mean I placed all of you in this me..." Lincoln implies, but Lori interrupts him.

"We are really sorry. We are literally being unfair to you," she admits.

"We confess we were jealous that you bonded more with our neighbors," Lola shares.

"That kind of took our breaths away," Luna says

"Yeah, we thought we could beat them of who's cooler among us," Lana adds.

"So, that's why we took it harshly," Lynn says.

"We always thought that the Larks are larking for trouble," Luan adds, "This is being serious."

"But we realized that we're being too unfair, condemning your soul for such negligence," Lucy points out.

"Yeah, but we knew you're just sharing love the same way you did to your sisters," Leni says.

"Uhmm, correction Leni, we are his sisters," Lisa assists her sister.

"That's what I said, we are his sisters," the blonde stresses.

"But she is correct. That act to the Larks is the same act of love and devotion to us," the 4-year-old genius reiterates.

"We never knew. So we are all sorry. We truly are," Lori apologizes, in behalf of the Loud sisters. This caps off with Lily, giggling at Lincoln.

"I thought I lost you guys!" Lincoln wails at the top of his breath, then hugs his sisters tightly, "I promise I would never leave you guys again!"

"We too, Linky!" At that moment, and in countless moments more, the Louds take a moment in such melancholic embrace. And nearly each one sheds a tear of joy. As a simple hug has always been a simple act of love, this moment never gets old for any of them, even for the emotionless Lisa.

The Larks, who quietly enter the parlor, can only feel touched by this heartfelt moment. For Lena, it has become already an emotional relief for her to see Lincoln resolved with his sisters. Lyndon would have been proud of her.

After that, they take a moment to wipe their tears and blow their noses; and for Lincoln's case, Lori lets him blow his nose on her shirt, like how a mother would do.

"So wait, if you haven't received my text since your phone is dead, how did you literally find us?" Lori asks. Then Lincoln directs her to the Larks. Leaving her grudges behind, she approaches Lois.

"Listen Lori, we were sorry if we messed things up with you and Lincoln..." Lois tries to appease Lori, but the latter unexpectedly embraces her.

"It's okay. Whatever it is, it is okay. We forgive you but we're literally sorry more," Lori guarantees before returning to hugging Lois. "Thank you for bringing Lincoln back to us. He's grateful to you. If he's happy with you, we're happy too."

This is one thing that Lois would not expect from Lori. Despite the initial setbacks, Lois unconditionally accepts Lori's apology.

Lynn then initiate the Louds on a moment to apologize to the Larks, with her making amends to Lexi; Leni to Lyra; Luna to Lara; Luan to Lena; Lucy to Loui; Lana to Lani; Lola to Leah; Lisa to Lacy; and even Lily to Lulu. All of it results to a relieving sight, a dream and prayer granted for Lincoln. Tears of joy runs from his eyes as the Loud and Lark children finally bonded with each other.

"Hey dudes, we have five boxes more. Wanna join us?" Luna asks the Larks.

But the Larks hesitate to respond.

"Come on. Join us. It will be fun!" Leni encourages them.

"Well, who can say no to free food?" Loui utters.

"You always say that," Lena responds. And with that, the Louds and Larks spend the whole night, bonding over pizza and a lot of things in common with each other. Eventually, the Larks admit of their mistake of using, but the Louds take it understandably that eventually ends up in a mutual agreement of how they will deal with the loss. But in the meantime, this is one moment that Lincoln can forever savor.


	15. Chapter 15

A new day comes after a heavy-hitting moment for the Louds and the Larks. The rest of the Loud siblings have officially accepted the Larks as their beloved neighbors and has soon learn of their tragic backstory. Despite the unethical implications that can come out from it, the Louds nevertheless forgive the Larks.

But to help the Larks completely compensate for the loss, on this very morning, the Louds and the Larks hold a burial ceremony to conceal all of Lyndon's precious items in a time capsule.

Lucy officiates the whole ceremony. "We are gathered here to pay respect for the loss of a beloved angel who touched the hearts of his loved ones. May we ask the Larks to surrender every item left of precious memory of their beloved brother."

With that, each of the Larks offers one sentimental item that they have an attachment to Lyndon. This triggers for them to recall memories with their beloved

Lois surrenders a porcelain cupcake figurine that Lyndon gave her as a good luck charm for her baking business. She learned that Lyndon actually made that from a workshop she accidentally brought him in.

Lacy hands over a jar used to store butterflies, something that she and Lyndon would tend to do in their backyard. Their hunt for butterflies and dragonflies interest her in science.

Lara turns over a _Velveteen Rabbit_ book that she and Lyndon would frequently read. They would repeat reading the whole story and even draw on the pages. And by the time they reached adolescence, Lara and Lyndon would discuss the book morally.

Lyra soon gives up a mini flower pot that Lyndon gave her as part of their house decoration. As a perfectionist in design, Lyra would tend to be obsessive-compulsive. So, Lyndon helped her with his parting gift.

Lulu then turns in her rattle that Lyndon made for her. This came from an activity by the Larks to craft a toy for Lulu. From Lyndon came a rattle made out of seashells, a homemade wand and a candy tube, which she finds very fun to play with.

Next, Lani lays down a treasure map that she and Lyndon used for their play adventures. It was Lacy who actually illustrated that map to distract them, which unknowingly led them to a fun adventure on their block.

Subsequently, Leah stuffs the palette to the rest of the items. That palette was given by Lyndon for her birthday. They then would use it for their weekly murals on their abandoned brick wall, which they dubbed as a "freedom wall".

Lexi then consigns a slingshot to the rest of their stuff. She and Lyndon would use that slingshot to knock down cans in the playground and sometimes prank their other siblings. She finds it as the closest memorabilia she has from Lyndon.

After that, Loui turns down a mixtape that she and Lyndon had composed. Both Loui and Lyndon are music geeks. So, along with Lena, they would take this option to compile songs from Smooch, Pyrosmith, Pistols and Petals, and others in one cassette tape.

And lastly, Lena readies to relinquish the last of Lyndon's memorabilia, stored in the cookie jar from the living room. One of the items in the jar was actually Leonard the Bear, whom she and Lyndon regarded as their playmate. Immediately, Lena gets a hard time giving up the beloved plush bear from such a close attachment that she had to it as she had to her brother. Her siblings and the Louds witness as she clings on to the stuffed bear dearly and soon weeps from reminiscing her twin brother.

Seeing this, Lincoln takes her by the hand and holds it firmly. A teary-eyed Lena then notices Lincoln's gesture and looks upon his empathetic face.

"Lena, it's okay. We're here for you," Lincoln affirms.

Feeling the assurance from her newfound best friend and support from her sisters and Lincoln's sisters, Lena gets motivated to cede Leonard the Bear to the metal capsule. But before surrendering it, she first gives it a farewell kiss and mutters to it, "Goodbye Leo. Lyndon will miss you." Additionally, she also turns over the cookie jar and a photograph of the whole family.

Finally, with all items yielded, Lynn ceremonially closes the capsule and Lana prepares to entomb it to the ground, as Luna leads the entire gang to song.

 _Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away_

 _Now it looks as though they're here to stay_

 _Oh, I believe in yesterday_

 _Suddenly, I'm not half the girl I used to be_

 _There's a shadow hanging over me_

 _Oh, yesterday came suddenly_

 _Why he has to go_

 _I don't know; he wouldn't say_

 _I said something wrong_

 _Now I long for yesterday_

 _Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play_

 _Now I need a place to hide away_

 _Oh, I believe in yesterday_

After the ceremonial burial, Lana seals the hole completely, and Lexi and Lisa set up a cross over it, with an engraving "To our dear angel Lyndon, we will miss you". Lincoln continues to comfort Lena from her sorrows.

Out of the moment of silence that came after, Lois opens up to Lori, "Thanks Lori for joining us on this."

Lori then takes her by the shoulder with compassion. "Our pleasure to carry on your burdens. Glad you settled it this way."

Lois then smiles in delight from Lori's sudden display of empathy. "Okay guys, thanks for all. We have toast and lemonade in the house. Let's take a moment to chill."

With that, the group heads to the Lark residence for the usual post-funeral festivity. Loui then clings onto Lena's shoulders to comfort her, making Lincoln slip away his arms from Lena and leaving them behind.

Suddenly, a voice utters to Lincoln, "Lincoln…Lincoln…"

Lincoln then turns behind him to see an apparition of Lyndon, clothed all in white and calling out his name.

"Lyndon?" Lincoln articulates from the sheer incredibility, "Am I dreaming?"

"Your faith allows you to see beyond what you see," Lyndon says, "I came down to you to thank you for being there for my sisters. Never would I know that a man like you would accept this duty."

Even as Lincoln remains stunned at this supernatural sighting, Lyndon continues to speak, "Fear not, for hurdles will come. But you will overcome them all. Believe me. And also tell to my sisters that I love them from the bottom of my heart. Tell them, joy is coming. For you too and your sisters."

And with that, a light from the sky falls onto Lyndon's apparition, and slowly, he fades away from Lincoln's sight. The latter then takes a deep breath from the supernatural phenomenon that he just witnessed. Though slowly, he gets encouraged to seize every word Lyndon said.

* * *

Later on, that afternoon, the Larks prepare for a road trip to Lansing, Michigan. They then exchange goodbyes with the Larks before they board their SUV.

"Glad you can spend time with us," Lois says to Lori.

"Oh, it was literally nothing," Lori replies, "We just want to share our sympathy to you."

"Well, off to Lansing."

"Word of advice, I recommend Potter Park Zoo. And play 'I Spy' with the vintage cars there."

"Good to know."

The two then embrace.

Meanwhile, Loui and Lyra offer a box of red velvet crinkles to Luna, Luan and Lola.

"Here you go, our homemade specialty," Loui presents to the Louds.

Lola then grabs the box and takes out a piece. "Are you sure this are edible?"

"We worked hard for it all week," Lyra implies.

"Hope you like it," Loui says.

"Let's see if we like it as munch. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan replies humorously.

"Is she always like this?" Loui asks.

"Totally dude," Luna answers.

"I kinda like it," Loui replies.

While that is going on, Lynn and Lexi are playfully wrestling as Lucy and Lara witness them bluntly.

"There goes my sister," Lara utters. "What's point of her rough housing like she hasn't been warned before?"

"You're telling me," Lucy reacts, "Lynn has been always impulsive to the extreme."

"Lexi too, with her pranks and antics. Wish she's tamed or something."

"Me too." And hearing that makes Lara smile at her, thinking of her as alright.

But back to the rough players, Lynn gains dominance over Lexi and throws her off, using her legs. This makes her hurtle like a cannonball, hitting a passing Lani and ending them in the car.

"Score!" Lexi and Lani exclaim.

Meanwhile, Leah shows a caterpillar to Lana and Leni. "Hey guys, check this out!"

"Oh no! A bug! Ahhh!" Leni screams at the top of our lungs, after realizing she witnessed a bug.

But Lana obviously thinks otherwise. "Woah! Such cool caterpillar!"

"Take it," Leah insists, making Lana pick it up and have it crawl to her arm.

"Cool. I never had a caterpillar crawl like this on me before," Lana remarks, "Where you find it?"

"The bushes on our yard," Leah answers.

"I must warn of the origin of that offspring is from a _Euphorbia cyparissias_ , an infectious outdoor specimen that can cause skin irritation," Lisa warns them.

"What did she say?" Leah asks.

"She said to stay away from the bushes," Lana answers, "But I'll not!"

Meanwhile, Lena carries Lulu to Lily, who is being carried by Lucy. The two girls then have their baby sisters bond with splurging blueberries to each other and communicating via baby gibberish.

"What they're even saying to each other?" Lena utters.

"Beats me," Lucy replies, "I would rather think they are communicating telepathically, and their sputters are the by-product of their spiritual, infantile forces."

"You're good at such an imagination."

"I wouldn't say the least."

In the meantime, Lincoln and Lacy walk out of the Lark house and proceed to the car.

"You know, I never really expected your sisters to be this compassionate," Lacy remarks.

"Yeah, they are deep inside," Lincoln comments, "But we have our own personality, and it keeps bumping in both ways to another. But we are family, and we love each other."

"Actually that was a defense I made for my scientific study about my siblings, for school of course. Indeed, it won the favor of the class but less to the panel of advisers. They think it is my findings are more emotionally driven than logically driven, even though biological blood is a researched factor."

Then suddenly, Lois honks the horn of her car to signal her siblings to proceed to the vehicle. "Come on guys! We're off!"

"Come on Lincoln," Lacy persuades Lincoln to go with them, but he stays behind. "You're not coming?"

"You guys go enjoy as a family. I'll enjoy with mine back here," Lincoln says to the Larks, then stresses his point by turning to his sisters who are all witnessing the Larks load to their car.

"Soothe yourself," Lacy replies, but turns back to Lincoln, "You know what Lincoln, you're a good man. Don't you forget that." She then walks to the SUV, where the Lark sisters have gone on board in the vehicle.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Lois asks Lincoln loudly.

"I'm good!" he replies.

With that, Lois starts the engine of the car, but Lena suddenly demands on getting out of the car to do one last thing to Lincoln. "Wait guys! There's something I have to do!"

"Well, will you hurry up? We have traffic along the way!" Lexi insists, as Lena hurtles to Lincoln.

"Lena?" he utters.

"Hey! I forgot to give you something." Lena then hands him her Walkman that contains her favorite mixtape. "Take care of them while I'm out, okay?"

"Lena, I do not know what to say…"

"You don't need to. I just want to say thank you for everything. This has been life changing for us. Really."

"Well, Lyndon will be really proud. He loves you."

"I know he does from the very start."

"Well, hope you enjoy Lansing."

"I will." The two then embrace tenderly. "So, see you around?"

"Are you kidding? We're neighbors! Of course we'll keep seeing you, especially for a cool hipster like you."

Lena then takes delight on this, like the happy-go-lucky girl she is when she met Lincoln. "Glad I knew you." And with that, she suddenly pecks on Lincoln's cheek before she heads back to their car. "That's a friend kiss. See you around, twinnie!"

As Lena boards the car, the Larks say their goodbyes to the Louds, who also bid goodbye to the Larks.

But Lincoln is left astounded, blushed and stunned at Lena's gesture. Reflecting on the extent of their friendship, he soon grasps on their sweet, platonic friendship.

"You do literally know you have a girlfriend, right?" Lori asks.

"I know," a smitten Lincoln replies, "I will handle Ronnie later."

* * *

After that, the Louds head back inside, where they get shocked to discover towers of dishes and unwashed utensils piled by the sink. Lincoln then learns he has not done his duty yet.

"Well, dishes duty, as always." With that, he heads to the sink and willingly washes the littered dishes. Foam then starts to emerge as he cleanses every dish stain.

But as he gets serious in his errand, Luan and Lynn suddenly shoot him with a water hose. "Oh, sorry Lincoln, we were just checking hose this thing works. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan mocks him.

Yet, he is again shot by Lana and Lola from behind with another hose, with Lily hanging on to said hose like a toy horse. "Beat that!" the twins exclaim.

Knowing that they are just playing with him, Lincoln then throws a cloud of foam to the twins. They then emerge out of it, accidentally throwing the foam to a passing Lori and Leni.

The twins then tease them both. "Hey, I think we just found Mrs. Clauses!" Lana teases.

"You mean dependent clauses?" Lynn replies.

Annoyed, Lori then takes the sponge and throws it at their direction, but it only hits only Luna's eyes. "Oops, sorry Luna."

"So, is this how you now treat me sis?" Luna intensely, playfully asks, then takes a window sprayer and switches it to the squirt mode to squirt soap on Leni's eyes.

"Oh my eyes! They burn!" Leni exclaims as Lisa and Lucy enter the scene.

"Might as well pull a rug under her," Lisa utters.

"As you wish," Lucy replies, and then ironically pulls the rug where Lisa is standing.

"Not that way," Lisa berates, making her lunge onto Lucy that causes for the dishes (and the dishwashing liquid) to perfectly fall on the sink and produce more foam.

"You know what this means?" Lynn utters.

Then immediately, or instinctively, Lola shouts, "Foam fight!" And at that signal, the Louds take a cloud of foam and throw it at each other. This is how fun their night went.

And to close it all out, amidst the bubble carnage, Lincoln addresses to the audience, "Truly, why would I trade my beloved sisters? Yes, I did make that mistake. But hey, I learned my lesson. And because of that, I get to love them more, and so do the Larks. Sure there are times that I get fed up with them. But I still love them. Wouldn't trade them for the world." He then returns on foam fighting with his siblings as the foam starts to occupy the whole kitchen.

 _From there, the story ends._

* * *

 **Hope you love the story guys! Clearly, this is a story that I had anticipated of doing since day one. It was truly a vision came true. And for every chapter, I appreciate the Louds and the Larks more and more. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. (Though, I could do an epilogue.)**

 **But I will still be doing stories about the Larks. And I still have to look if I could do a Lincoln and Lena story. Help me on this.**

 **Anyway, to the loyal viewers there, thank you for this! Just because of this story, I think I am confident on formulating original characters for original stories.**

 **More stories to come, so stay tuned for the updates. And a huge thank you to all again!**


	16. Epilogue

In one perfect Saturday night, Bobby delivers ten boxes of pizzas to the doorstep of the Louds. As he carries the weight of a mix between meat-filled and vegan pizzas, in addition to the bonus soda and brownies, he rings on the doorbell multiple times. But no one answers. Eventually, Lori answers the door.

"Lori, finally you answered," Bobby utters, as he carries the weight of the pizzas, "I was waiting for so long."

"Oh, literally sorry boo-boo bear," Lori apologizes to her boyfriend, "Sorry so much. I was just talking to a friend."

"By the phone?"

"Not exactly. I had my phone on silent."

"So, that's why you're not answering my calls."

"Haven't I literally told you that I will take a break from talking to you on the phone?

"Yeah, but I thought you were joking about that."

Lori laughs this off as bluff, but she finally explains, "Oh, boo-boo bear, we had a lot of great moments. So, I decided to take this leisure time for myself, even for once. It's best for us, but that doesn't mean it's the end. Besides, I want to spend time with these guys."

"Wait, guys?"

"Yeah, our neighbors. We decided to hold a sleepover together, well, since we never thought we had a lot in common. I also kinda dig Lois' style. She was this break dancer that I mentioned to you before. Now, I only learned from her on how you can make actual makeup from kitchen ingredients. It's kind of refreshing, though not surprising. Did you know that ketchup is a helpful skin moisturizer? Not literally going to test it on my skin, of course, but kind of helpful."

"Great that you're having fun, but can you help me with these boxes."

"Oh sorry. Just got literally so excited." Lori then takes the pizza boxes and sets them aside and pulls out the $120 payment for her order. "Here you go. Keep the change, boo-boo bear."

"Thanks," Bobby replies.

"Well, see you tomorrow," Lori replies.

But as she shuts the door, Bobby stops her. "Wait Lori, can we talk before I go back to my shift?"

"Boo-boo bear, you are still at your shift. We'll talk about this tomorrow. Good night!"

But Bobby insists. "Please Lori, I cannot continue without hearing your voice for a couple of minutes. I need my daily inspiration to speak to me."

"That's so corny of you, boo-boo bear, to say that. Good night."

"Please Lori, how can I live without talking to you?!" he surprisingly whines.

"Good night Bobby." Lori then gives a flying kiss to her lover before she shuts the door.

Bobby knows this is not enough, and he leans by the door, checking out Lori from the peep hole.

"Bobby…" Lori warns him, feeling his presence outside.

"Okay, okay. See you tomorrow, babe!" Bobby then returns to his delivery cab and drives off to his next stop.

Back at Lori, she still leans by the door, giving herself a sigh of relief. Lois approaches her, having witnessed this feat.

"So, how was it?" Lois asks.

"You're right," Lori replies, "I literally deserve rest from such heavy commitment."

"You need it girl. You need to cool down before you ready yourself for your next move. That's what I did with my beloved back in San Francisco."

"What happened?"

"We were really young lovers. We fell in love since middle school. He wooed with his fun stories and corny pickup lines. But he was sweet. Our relationship lasted until he had to go…"

"Had to go?"

"He moved to the Netherlands. We could have lasted into a long distance relationship. But he became busy there. Until I heard from him that he is dating someone new…" From there, Lois begins to cry. "I was trying to reach him out. But he became…so engaged with her. Yet, he told me that he was grateful of our relationship that it changed of how he views women. He didn't say how, but he reached out to comfort me. We remained friends until now. But, him with another…?" Lois tries to finish her words, but her sorrows get the best of her that she sheds a tear in front of Lori.

Empathetically, Lori consoles to Lois. "There, there, poor thing. It's okay. Things literally come and go. But it's not the end of the world."

"Yeah I realized that," Lois tearfully implies, "I just thought I needed a friend who can help me with this problem."

"Don't worry about it. How about we feast this off with pizza. Sounds good?"

"Yeah, sure."

The two then carry the ten pizza boxes to the living room, where the Louds and Larks are gathered for their sleepover, and doing all sorts of activities before they move to their movie marathon.

Lynn, Lana, Lola, Lacy, Leah and Lani are playing UNO cards, with Lola having the least amount of cards, while Lynn having the most.

Luna, Lucy, Lara and Loui are checking out music tutorials from the Larks' laptop, while they share songs at the same time.

Luan and Lexi are chasing Leni, scaring with the spider fishing rod prop.

And Lyra is playing with Lily and Lulu by the floor, while Lisa observes Lyra's methods of handling toddlers.

"Guys, pizza's here!" Lori calls out their attention, making them rush to the pizzas, except for the girls in the UNO cards table.

"How about you guys there?" Lois asks to them.

"Hold on for a minute," Lacy says, "Lola's about to draw her card."

Lynn then intimidates Lola, who is seated right beside her. "I am watching you Lola. Don't you dare make me cause your misery." As she is positioned beside her, the card that Lola will draw shall answer what will become of Lynn's fate.

"Calm down, dear sister. I am sure this card won't tire you from saying that," Lola sneers. Then, she draws her last card – a +4 card for Lynn.

This causes Lynn to burst out of exasperation since she has to add 4 cards on her 12-card deck. "You will pay for this, Lola!"

"Make that even for us. I almost hurled at your protein mix."

But this still has not pacified Lynn.

Lois then interrupts the game with a pizza box at her hand. "Pizza anyone?"

Lynn then swipes the box from Lois and opens it. She then takes a quarter of a slice and munches one big portion. "Great! I needed this for this game. Thanks anyway!"

Lois smiles at Lois' expression of gratitude. "So what's happening here?"

Lacy then lays the course of events, "Lola's off the hook. So far, I have four left, while is lagging longer with 16. We'll see where Leah goes from here, since she's down with two."

"Seems all of you are serious on this game," Lois reacts.

"You're telling me," Lola replies, "Lynn has been brutal from the very start. But thankfully, Lana and Lani here had the perfect set of cards to beat her."

"Guess you will be staying for that long," Lois utters.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lori hands over a box to Luna and company. "Here you go, guys."

"We'll take it later dude. We have to listen to this," Luna says as she, Lara, Lucy and Loui watch a video of a college student sampling "All Apologies" by Nirvana.

"It's kind of awesome of how he hits the chorus," Loui comments.

"I like more how he hits the beat after 'married' and 'buried'," Luna shares.

"Kind of reminds me of the overture of Sweeney Todd," Lucy adds.

"Now how would you know that musical?" Lara asks Lucy.

"If you have to embody the grotesque, you need to know the grotesque," Lucy affirms, though Lara never bats an eye of her knowledge of a gory Stephen Sondheim piece.

"That's just rad coming from you. I like that, Lucy," Lara reacts.

* * *

While that is going on, Lori gets bumped by Lexi by accident, after trying to chase Leni, and presses her face to the pizza. "Oh hot! Hot! Hot!" she screams.

Lexi notices this and comes to Lori's aid. "Oh, not to worry Lori. We'll get rid of that." Lexi attempts to wipe off the pizza sauce on Lori's face but gets burned, due to it being an extremely spicy flavor.

Luan approaches them after hearing the commotion. "What's going on here?"

"Your sister fell on to spicy pizza," Lexi explains.

"Don't worry Lori. We'll help you." Luan then races to the kitchen for a possible solution.

Lexi goes back to wiping off the sauce but the spiciness of the pizza prevents her. "Sheesh, who would request such a spicy pizza?"

"That somebody would be the one who got her faced literally pasted on a spicy pizza," Lori vents to her.

Instantly, Luan comes to the rescue with a bucket of water. "Brace yourself, Lori!" With that, she pours all the water to Lori, wiping off the sauce but soaking Lori a whole. Of course, Lori gets angered at this. "So sorry for that Lori. At least you're not on hotseat anymore since you cooled down. Hehehe. Get it?" Then, Luan and Lexi partake in a laugh-out session, which Lori gets annoyed at.

But exactly at that situation, Leni arrives at the scene and trips over for her face to land on the same pizza that Lori landed on. As expected, her face gets burned as well, "Oh no! Hot blood on my face! AHHHH!"

The three notices this and takes a laugh at Leni, as she runs around in circles, trying to find the sink. Somehow, Leni licks some of the pizza sauce but still mistakes it for blood, causing her to panic more.

"Well, I could get used to this," Lori utters while she wipes her face with a cold, wet towel.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lyra just finishes changing Lily's diaper to demonstrate to Lisa on how she takes care of toddlers like Lily and Lulu. "And that's how you change…a diaper. So, anything I missed?"

"How about the part where the infant's quotidian compost is extirpated to the waste disposal unit?" Lisa brings up vaingloriously.

"Uhmm…can you repeat what you said? I think I misheard the second word," Lyra replies.

"I meant the part where you get rid of the used diaper."

"Oh. It's a no-brainer actually." Lyra then throws the diaper to the trash and places Lily's used towel to the laundry basket. "Simple as that."

"Oh, I bet home economics got you equipped for such complex parental ritual."

"Well, mom gave us instructions since she always have to leave for work, and me, being the first person to arrive at home have to take care of Lulu's business."

"That's some needed justification. But I have to say: I'm impressed."

* * *

Lois then switches on the flat-screen TV, just in time for the movie teaser to flash. "Hey guys! The movie's on now!" At her signals, the girls drop what they are doing and head to the living room.

Though Lynn is not happy with that news. "Aww dang it! I was going to hit Lacy with reverse card!"

The Louds and the Larks converge to the couch and prepare to tune in to the feature presentation. Lori, Leni (with an icepack tied to her head), Luna, Lisa, Lois, Lacy, Lara and Leah sit by the couch, while Luan (holding Lily), Lynn, Lucy, Lyra (holding Lulu) and Lani place themselves on the floor, whereas Lana, Lola and Lexi struggle for a position on the recliner. With the food ready, with popcorn added to the mix, the girls are ready for their movie marathon.

But Leah seems to notice something. "Hey guys, I think we're forgetting some people."

Realizing who they are, Lori stands up from her seat. "I'll get them."

Lori then heads to Lincoln's room and knocks on the door to fetch Lincoln and Lena. "Lincoln! Lena! The movie's starting now!" But suddenly, she hears murmurs from behind the door, coming from a male voice and a female voice, presumably from Lincoln and Lena, respectively.

" _Wait, what are you doing?_ " the female voice utters.

" _I have to do this, milady!_ " the male voice responds.

" _There has to be a better way!_ "

" _No, I must. It's the only way. To have America their…great…ity._ "

" _Oh, dear. How would I…?_ "

" _Don't worry. I'll be back._ "

" _Will you?_ "

" _I will. If I must burn this white house down, I will._ "

Shocked at those words, Lori bellows "What?!" and barges to the Lincoln's room to see Lincoln and Lena doing a voiceover recording session over a video featuring the POTUS.

"Lori?" Lincoln utters, seeing his sister suddenly barged in.

"Lincoln, what…? What are you guys literally doing?" Lori asks.

"Oh, Lena and I are just making voices over these videos," Lincoln says with a laugh.

"Yeah, we kind of think it's a fun idea to dub over the president's line and replaced them with corny movie lines," Lena explains, "It's kind of fun actually."

"Why are you two doing this? You almost had me literally worried to death," Lori lays her concerns.

"Relax Lori. It's part of a project," Lincoln says, "Well, Lena suggested. So, we took a shot at it."

"Ohh. Good. The movie's starting by the way. Hope you don't mind."

"We'll do."

With that, Lincoln flips down his laptop and Lena pulls out the mic jack from it, before they proceed downstairs.

"Later again Lincoln," Lena persuades, "Let's do something else overnight."

"Well, I would put stargazing on that list," Lincoln says.

"That too."

Lori then takes the two downstairs the living room.

"So, what are we gonna watch?" Lincoln asks.

"Don't know. I left to get you when the movie previewed," Lori answers.

"Hope it's not cheap low-budget horror schlock fest," Lena remarks. "Had lots to endure from there."

Suddenly, they stumble upon the living room to see their sisters cowering in fear as they see the ghastly image of a drenched out girl coming out of a well. There, Lincoln realizes that they are about to watch the Japanese horror classic _Ring_. And just as he realizes, the lights begin to flicker, and all of the girls start to scream. Being experienced to ghosts, thanks to _ARGGH!_ , Lincoln has only this to say to the readers, "Seven days?"

 _The End_


	17. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 1

On a Saturday night in the first week of summer, it is time for the Louds and Larks to have their agreed-upon sleepover at the Louds. Either family never predicted the intensity that their party would extend.

But exactly at 10:22, Bobby during his pizza delivery post stops by at the house to drop eleven box orders of pizza for them (just like at the last chapter). He knocks on the door, only for his girlfriend Lori to answer it.

"Oh, Boo-boo bear! Glad you came immediately!" Lori utters, "We are literally dying for pizza."

"You sure do not mean that, right?" Bobby asks, handing out the pizza boxes, plus six bottles of soda pop and apple crumble pie, to Lori.

"Of course not, literally!" Lori laughs it off.

"Just assuring," Bobby shrugs it off as he gives the bill to Lori. "It's just this is like the second time you're having a pizza sleepover party with the Larks. How come I never get invited? I mean I want to meet them…"

"You will, just not on this occasion," Lori explains. "Because we and the Larks have created a literal circle of trust. And so we have these parties. So, you must be part of the circle to join."

"So, wait. What does it take for me to join?"

Lori then responds by yanking on the collar of Bobby's pizza delivery uniform and drawing him closer, as if flirting, "Well, you have to literally be either a Loud or a Lark."

"But I'm a Loud! I'm part of your family."

"You will Boo-boo bear. Just not tonight." With that, Lori gives a kiss as a goodbye gesture to Bobby and proceeds to the kitchen with their delivery food.

* * *

Much like the last chapter of "The Other House", everyone has their own businesses in various degrees. Though different this time. Leni, Lucy, Lacy and Lyra are binge-watching _Riverdale_ in Netflix (with Lori), while taking care of Lily and Lulu; Luna, Lincoln, Lara and Leah are jamming upstairs; and Luan, Lynn, Lana, Lola, Lena, Loui, Lexi and Lani are playing paintball around the house. After dodging Lexi getting chased by Lola, Lori proceeds to the kitchen where Lois and Lisa preparing the food.

"There! Our Continental-style food preparation is achieved," Lisa declares, clamoring her food arrangement.

"That looks spontaneous, Lisa," Lois compliments. "But we forgot the hors d'oeuvres."

"Dang it! Need to mince the tomatoes then," Lisa replies.

"What's with the fancy arrangements?" Lori asks.

"Well, I taught Lisa how I mastered in gastronomy and food arrangements. So, she suggested that I do it, to make the occasion look sophisticated," Lois answers.

"We just bought pizza and soda. How would that mix?"

Then, the girls overhear the commotion of the other girls horsing around. This brings up Lois' point. "Well, we had paintballs and _Riverdale_ in one night. So, why shouldn't we mix?"

Just at that moment, Lexi hurtles towards Lori's direction, making her trip at her sudden speed. "Hey runt! Come back here!" Lori scolds.

But Lois pacifies her. "Easy Lori. That's just Lexi. And we all know how Lexi operates. Just think that nothing can go worse from here."

Ironically, Lola, Lynn and Lani pass by them and inadvertently shoot paintballs at the two older sisters, making Lori let go of the pizzas and having them land on their faces.

Though, at this time, Lois catches her breaking point. "Okay, that does it! You girls stop…!" However, she slips from one slice of pizza and lands on the plate of hors d'oeuvres. "Never mind."

Lori comes to her aid instantly. "Lois, are you okay?"

Abruptly, Lyra enters the kitchen. "Sorry to interrupt, guys. But is dinner ready?"

"Just in a minute Lyra," Lois answer. "Just get back to the living room and…"

In another abrupt moment, Lynn passes by the kitchen and becomes shocked that the pizza they ordered are splattered to the ground. "Is that our pizza?"

"Lynn, we literally know that, but don't you dare…" Lori warns. But it is too late for her.

Suddenly, Lynn hollers to the rest, "Guys, the pizza's scattered around! We must get them before they are wasted!" And with Lynn's warning about the 5-second rule for food, the Louds and the Larks (sans Lincoln, Lori, Lois and Lisa) rush to the kitchen to grab a slice, much to Lori and Lois' horror.

"Brace yourselves, pizza mongers are coming," Lisa sarcastically comments as the girls swarm the kitchen.

After a while, everyone has gathered on the living room for their suggested movie marathon, starting with _The Blair Witch Project_.

"Alright everyone, this is a dare! Last one standing," Lynn suggests.

"Just sit down. I wanna watch the movie," Lara groans.

"No, bring it on!" Loui counters.

"Oh good. Brave soul," Lynn reacts. "Here's the deal. Anyone who screams or gets frightened is eliminated. Last one standing wins."

"Wins what?" Lacy asks.

"Well, bragging rights," Lynn shrugs.

"We want something worth rewarding," Lexi recommends.

"I know! How about a complimentary ticket, courtesy of me, to the Royal Woods Arts & Music Festival," Luna suggests, but everyone else disagrees.

Meanwhile, Lori and Lois, with pizza stains on their faces, recover from the sudden swarm and clean up the kitchen from the untidiness. Lincoln enters the area, hoping to get one more slice of pizza.

"You guys okay?" Lincoln asks them.

"Nope. Does it look like?" Lori responds.

"Sorry," Lincoln replies.

"It's okay Lincoln. She's just crabby about the food," Lois assures, "I too."

"Yeah, sorry. Can you help us here?" Lori requests.

"Uhmm sure," Lincoln accepts. Then, he helps them tidy up the tiled countertops.

"Well, at least we all know what happens when pizza gets in the way," Lori shares.

"I know right," Lois agrees. "You know, I think we should retire these kind of sleepovers."

"What you talking about Lois? I enjoy hanging out with you guys," Lincoln utters in concern.

"I know Lincoln. But let me finish," the elder Lark sister insists. "I think we should do something different."

"That's what I am literally gonna say," Lori replies, "I was gonna suggest a lot of stuff like a trip to the fair, or go to a rock concert, or shopping/window shopping in the mall."

"The last one I cannot agree on," Lincoln comments.

"Deal with it Lincoln," Lori sneers at her brother, then proposes to Lois, "Anyway, the point is we haven't bonded somewhere else other than here."

Trying to get a sense of Lori's idea, Lois replies, "Wait, don't tell me you're suggesting a…" Then, all she sees is Lori nodding her head with an excited grin. Consequently, she utters, "A vacation?"

"Yes! You're literally getting me girl!"

"Well, summer's here. And not much happened. So, we might use a vacation!"

"Great!"

Overhearing this, Lincoln raises his hand and gives a suggestion, "Oh! We can always head to Colorado for skiing! I heard it's great to ski there."

"Yeah, but do you think there's snow at this time of year?" Lori raises, making Lincoln disappointed.

But he quickly grasps another idea, "Or maybe at the Grand Canyon!"

Lori groans at this, and Lois receives the same feeling. "Yeah, Grand Canyon is good but it's getting old since we get to go there every year," the latter replies.

However, from there, Lois recalls her family's earlier vacations and then thinks if they can take that direction. "How about if we stop by at my aunt's secret cabin in Montana?"

"A secret cabin?" both Lori and Lincoln respond with sheer curiosity.

"Mhm," Lois confirms.

"So wait, is this cabin like really scary?" Lincoln asks enthusiastically.

"Hold your horses, Lincoln," Lori insists, "We literally don't want a haunted cabin in the woods."

"It may be…sorta," Lois hints, "But I swear it is so relaxing that you feel like staying in Switzerland."

Just at that comparison, Lori is up for Lois' suggestion. "Oh I'm in!"

* * *

While the three proceed to the living room, the girls are gripped to their seats as they watch the final act to _Blair Witch_ (wherein a bright light radiates to the protagonists hiding). But as the scene approaches in anticipation, Lori pauses the movie.

"Wait! What happened?!" Lani squeals.

"Relax, I'm sparing you from the arrival of the witch," Lori spouts out a spoiler, which obviously aggravates the girls.

"Oh great, another movie ruined. Thanks Lori!" Lola chastises her sister.

"Relax, the movie is bad anyway," Lori comments, to which the girls agree.

Lois then segues to their intended topic. "Okay guys, Lori and I discussed about this. We had so much time, having sleepovers."

"Any problem with that?" Lola confronts them while standing above Lexi's back.

"No, if you propose not to do sleepovers, I won't let you! I already love Lacy!" Leni cries as she clings to Lacy.

"Okay, you can let go now Leni," Lacy insists.

Lois is skeptical of Lena for obvious reasons. But the latter debunks her sister's claim. "What? I'm cool here. Besides, me and Lincoln already established boundaries as twins."

Back to the topic, Lana raises, "Plus, we have nothing to do in summer."

"Yet…because I have baseball practice for summer," Lynn addresses.

"That's just your excuse to go to the outfield to play with the bat," Lucy side-comments, which makes Lynn grumble.

"So, what do we say take a road trip to our secret cabin in Montana this Friday?" Lois announces, which brings mixed reactions from the girls.

"SECRET CABIN?!"

"You mean that place with the Jacuzzi?" Lara asks.

"The beautiful lake?" Leah asks as well.

"The watercolor paintings?" Lyra follows.

"The hidden trail?" Lani goes along.

"The ghost stories?" Lena questions.

"Ghost stories?!" the Louds react.

"No, not the ghost stories!" a terrified Loui asks.

"A monster?" Leni asks.

"A mummy?" Luna follows.

"A creature from the lake?" Lynn proceeds.

"A vampire?" Lucy asks along.

"A phantom?" Lola questions.

"An invisible man?" Lana follows her.

"A man that can morph into a _canis lupus_?" Lisa asks.

"A ghost?" Lori goes along

"A story? Hehehe," Luan hilariously follows, to Lori's annoyance.

"A murder with a deadly weapon?" Lincoln asks finally.

"Maybe the latter's plausible. But there's no murder. Just a lake resort," Lois justifies.

Then, without much thinking about the destination, the girls collectively reply, "WE"RE IN!"

And with that, the adventure begins.


	18. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 2

By Friday, at the start of the Louds and Larks' combined vacation, Lincoln excitedly packs for vacation. He brings out a duffel bag where he places his clothes, hygiene needs, outdoor trip kit and personal accessories for the trip, and sets his backpack where he inserts his comics, snacks, gadgets and other accessories.

"I can't wait for this trip to happen!" Lincoln remarks excitedly to the readers. "Just a week out on a real cabin in the woods, with a lake behind of it. This is going to be awesome!"

However, as he squeezes in his stuff to gain more space in his bag, one pocketbook of horror stories accidentally falls to his bed. Lincoln picks up the book and learns it to be, "The Hidden Tales of the Dark Lagoon". "I wonder how I got this. Probably dad stumble on it on a garage sale." Sensing of its peculiarity, Lincoln decides to pack it along with the rest of his stuff. "There we go."

After that, he proceeds to Vanzilla. However, things do not go as planned when Lisa appears in front of him. "Salutations, brethren."

"Lisa, can you please stop acting like Lucy, randomly appearing out of thin air," Lincoln persists.

"Apologies, if you may, but we're in a hasty situation," she says. "I need you to assign your seat position in Vanzilla as soon as rectified."

As Lincoln browses through the seat plan for the van, he learns that the front row seats were occupied, as well as the seats nearest to the windows. The only option available are the last two middle seats. "Wait a minute…why these are the only seats available? When was this agreed upon?"

"First come, first serve policy, Lincoln," Lisa defends, "Apologies Lincoln for the late notice."

"Oh you better be sorry!"

"I am. I just don't want to repeat this again." Lisa then opens the door to prove her point: The Louds predictably arguing who gets which seat.

"You get to be on the right seat last time!" Lola scolds Lana.

"But you get to have it more times!" Lana scolds back.

"Trust me, dude. How would I jam when I'm not in my favorite seat?" Luna raises to Lynn.

"Why is the left back seat your favorite seat?" Lucy scoffs.

"Hey, that's my favorite seat!" Lynn derides.

"It's not fair for me to sit with Lily again," Leni argues to Luan.

"Why? Don't you love Lily?" Luan asks to Leni, while raising a drooling Lily to her.

"It's not that I don't like Lily but…"

"Oh no, a baby hater!"

"What?! No! I don't hate babies. I un-hate them."

"Well, you hate the right notes. Hahaha. Get it?"

Though Leni gets annoyed, Lily is more annoyed that she hits Luan with her rattle. And the two keep arguing.

Distressed about the situation, Lori steps in and attempts to calm them from arguing. "Okay, you have to all literally stop everything! Guys!" But the girls ignore her pleas.

"Why should this always happen in a family vacation?" Lisa side-comments, "That is why academic symposiums and educational excursion are more recommendable." Then, she scoots off as the girls continue to quarrel.

Not wanting his excitement to get deterred, Lincoln checks out on the Larks of their preparations. As he steps on their property, he sees Loui looking aghast while the family SUV is still parked on the side with no one in. "Hey Loui, how's it hanging?"

Loui then notices Lincoln. "Oh hey Lincoln. Didn't notice you there."

"Where are the rest?"

"Oh, you know how family vacations go, especially with big families."

Just to prove of the household's chaos, a baggage suddenly burst from the window.

"Shall we?" Loui asks. Then with that, the two get inside the house to see the Lark sisters predictably fighting, something surprising for Lincoln.

"I told you, I'm the family navigator. Thus, I have the right to sit on the front," Lacy attests to her sisters, much to their chagrin.

"When is the last time you never sat on the front? Let me see…never!" Lexi vehemently argues.

"Lexi, you're not allowed in the front," Lara tells her.

"Then why is Lani complaining the same thing?"

"Oh. I thought we are arguing who gets the upper bunk bend in the cabin," Lani says, then awkwardly chuckles.

"Just as long as I don't sit beside, Lulu," Lyra insists.

"But as I know from our schedule, you are the one next in charge," Leah points out.

"Oh dang it!" Lyra grumbles. But Lulu remains a good sport as she grins while drooling.

Lois sees the escalation of their arguing. Thus, she apologizes to Lincoln. "Sorry about this Lincoln. We tried to come up with our seat plan. But these guys just want the window seats."

"Because it has air!" Lexi, having overheard Lois, argues.

"Nah, I've seen worse," Lincoln states, to which Lois takes a smile at. "Man, I guess we're not so much different after all as families."

"Yeah," Loui agrees, but she prefers to go off topic. "Hey, saw the newest _Sherlock_ season?"

"I haven't followed up on _Sherlock_. I think the last thing I saw was 'The Abominable Bride'."

"Well, it's getting intense this time. It's something about…"

But as Loui is about to share to Lincoln, Lena interrupts the scene and argues to Lois. "Lois, you promised that I'd be the navigator this time."

"I know that. Don't you think I don't know that?" Lois counters.

Lena then notices Lincoln's presence. "Oh Lincoln, you're here."

"Hi Lena!" Lincoln replies back. "What are you saying about navigating?"

"Oh, I found this book at a garage sale," Lena shows a traveler's guide entitled "The Hacker's Guide to Road Tripping in the US". "I thought I could use this for this trip. There are even coupons in the inside. And I think I just may be able to spot the location of our cabin, using coordinates of course."

However, their meeting gets interrupted when Lola and Lana suddenly burst to the inside, quarrelling. Lori catches up with them and holds them both to stop them from fighting. "Will you stop that?!"

"She started it!" they both shout to each other.

"Is everything alright Lori?" Lois comes to their concern.

"Oh sorry about that Lois. It's just these two won't stop fighting," Lori replies.

"Oh, that's nothing new." She proves her point by referring to Lexi and Lani quarreling. Lois then raises an eyebrow on them to stop.

"She started it!" they both blame each other.

"Wow, really nothing new with extended families," Lori comments, "Literally, the best thing you can do is mix things up to look new."

And from Lori's words, Lincoln ponders on something and raises an idea. "That's it! I got it!"

"Got what?" Lois asks.

"We can mix things up. I need everyone gathered right now!"

From that, Lori and Lois trust on Lincoln and call their sisters to gather at the Loud House yard.

"Okay, is everyone here?" Lincoln asks.

Then Lacy gives the head count. "Yes, I, Lois, Lara, Lyra, Lena, Loui, Lexi, Leah, Lani, Lulu, Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily. Anything I miss?"

"You missed me," Lincoln remarks jokingly.

"Oh dang it!" Lacy grunts.

He then gives his proposal, "Okay, it has been agreed. But I need your thoughts. Seeing that we all have the same problems of seat turbulence…"

"We don't!" Lola and Lana argue, then resume on fighting. In response, Lori stops them.

"Go on," Lori says.

"Alright, I think this is the best option. We can combine seat plans. The Louds can ride on the SUV, while the Larks can get onboard on Vanzilla."

Lincoln's suggestion however draws for the girls to utter, "What?!"

"Why do I want to sit with the Larks on their car?" Lynn sneers.

"Well, at least our car is not a rust-bucket van like yours!" Lexi argues, which leads for both families to nearly argue. But Lincoln holds them off.

"Guys, hear me out, okay? Look, the Larks are gonna take us to their 'cabin in the woods'. So, we need them to lead us there. And besides, we all wanted this. We all wanted to hang out as two families and bond with each other. I really wanted all of us to grow closer to each other."

At those words, the girls are sweetened.

"Awww…that's very touching Lincoln," Lyra mopes.

Gaining on their emotions, Lincoln encourages, "Now, shall we make this the best two-family vacation ever?"

The girls respond, "Yes!"

And with that, they commence their preparations. But not before Lori suggests something fair. "Okay guys, before anything, draw lots."

"Draw lots? Why draw lots?" Lincoln asks.

"Because we need to be literally fair on our seating arrangements," Lori defends as she pours out a bunch of pickup sticks. "We wanted this. So let's all be fair. Whoever gets the red one rides with me. And the blue goes to Lois. And we need to agree about the navigators."

With that, the girls comply to Lori's instructions, much to Lincoln's dismay when he picks out a stick that assigns him to…


	19. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 3

Lincoln was unfortunately relegated to Vanzilla. While that seems normal, it does not compare when the two families hit the road. It truly is chaos inside Vanzilla: Lacy is arguing with Lori over directions to their destination and Lori's speeding; Lexi, who is seated beside Lincoln near the door, constantly throws spitballs at Lincoln, while Lisa attempts to thwart her with her improvised laser burning gun; in the middle seats, Leni and Lucy are trying to pacify a cranky Lulu; and on the backseats, Lola keeps mocking at Lani, while an irresolute Lyra tries to calm them both.

"Can things get any worse?" Lincoln asks to himself.

Just in time, Lexi throws one spitball to his eye.

"Will you stop that?"

"You have to say the magic words," Lexi evilly mocks him.

Lincoln then takes a grip on Lexi's straw. "Please stop it now!"

Unfortunately, Lexi eventually shoots another spitball on Lincoln that causes him to fall towards Lisa. On the other hand, annoyed by Lexi's nastiness, Lisa aims at the Lark bully. "That's it. You're going to taste corporal punishment."

But Lexi evades her by shooting another spitball to the nozzle, jamming Lisa's laser gun.

"Take that, corporal punishment," Lexi laughs nastily.

Lisa tries to unjam her gun, just by tapping it. "Come on. I need you to work."

"Lisa, I don't think it's necessary to punish her with highly active laser gun," Lincoln notes.

"You do wish to teach Lexi a lesson? Then this is the most effective way possible," Lisa defends as she turns to the trigger of the gun.

"Okay, maybe we got off guard with the laser," Lincoln frightfully implies.

But Lisa keeps on fixing the gun, which she accidentally triggers, causing it to light up an incinerating flare that burns Lincoln's white hair.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Lincoln screams.

"Will you be quiet back there?" Lori looks behind and warns them.

"Hey watch out, Lori!" Lacy, seated beside Lori, warns her as she takes the wheel.

But Lori fights back. "Let me handle the wheel. I can literally handle this!"

"You can't even handle a slight pinch of focus," Lacy chastises her.

"Don't you dare comment about my driving. I'm the driver. You are just the GPS. In fact, why do I need you when I can always use the phone?"

"Don't you dare discredit my capabilities!" Lacy then quarrels over Lori for the stirring wheel, leading the van to sway back and forth.

The others are oblivious to this fact, as they are busy handling their own concerns. Lincoln, on the other hands, gets from putting out the flare on his hair and tries to hold his gut from hurling. "Guys, will you stop fighting…over…the stirring wheel? I think I'm going to be sick."

But Lori and Lacy never get to hear him.

"You let go!" Lacy insists.

"No, you let go, four eyes!" Lori growls.

Lincoln just groans at this prospect. Holding his barf, he then shares his thoughts to the readers, "Well, it could be worse. The other guys might have faced the same thing."

Unfortunately for Lincoln, the others who are in the Lark family SUV (comprising of Lois, Luna, Lana, Lara, Lily, Leah, Lynn, Luan, Loui and Lena) are having a swell moment like jamming to Luna's excitable beats, including "So What" by P!nk. It was just a fun bonding excursion for them.

Knowing that (from a fourth-wall source), Lincoln groans, "For real?" But he is in the verge of hurling that he has no choice but to throw up to windshield, causing for all to scream and for the two to make a sudden stop at the shoulder lane.

Lincoln gets out of the van and throws up the rest of his lunch on the ground.

"Your fault. You clean the windshield," Lori commands Lacy when she hands her a towel.

"Hey, it's not my fault for making you drive recklessly!" Lacy accuses her.

Lori rushes to Lincoln's aid with a bottle of water and a towel. She first wipes the vomit that splattered on her. Then she taps her brother's back to pacify him from that unfortunate vomiting moment. "There. There. Sorry about that Lincoln."

"It's all good," he mumbles.

"Just let the cookie toss," Lori says. She then turns to the rest of the guys. "Okay, Vanzilla had enough one quarrel for today. So, I'll literally keep watch to all of you. One moment you mess things up, I'll leave you in the freeway."

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew you are a tyrannosaurus!" Lexi rebukes.

"You mean tyrannical?" Lisa verifies to her.

"It works for both words!"

"I have to agree."

"Okay, literally no more horsing around in the van!" Lori warns them.

"Why don't you tell that to Lani there, who keeps tapping the windows!" Lola harshly blames on her, making Lani feel guilty.

"No Lola, that goes for all of us. Myself included. But, I still have authority to shout and warn you on the road!"

"Hypocrite," Lacy comments.

"Don't call me a hypocrite!" Just to throw more salt in the wound, Lincoln throws up again but unintentionally directly to Lori. "Lincoln!"

"I think we need to find a doctor for him, or some place to keep him away from dizziness," Lyra suggests, "I am not used to barf in trips."

"It's not like you hate Lincoln for barfing the van that's not yours," Lucy comments.

"So wait, the van is not even ours?" Leni questions her.

"No Leni, that's not what I meant," Lucy corrects her.

"Okay quit it guys! We'll stop over for the night," Lori proposes. She then asks Lacy, "Are there any inns along the way?"

"There's one with a diner and a gas stop, just 3 miles away," Lacy confirms. "So what's the plan?"

* * *

Back on the end of the Lark family SUV, Loui shares to Lena, "Hey Lena, have you heard of the new Case Closed movie? I heard it's neat…"

However, the hipster girl receives a call from none other than Lincoln, leaving Loui once again disappointed. She answers. "Twinnie, what's up?"

" _Hey Lena_ ," Lincoln says from the other line, " _Listen, I kinda got sick. Change of plans. Can you give the phone to Lois?_ "

She then hands the phone to Lois. "Hello?" she answers. But since music was still on and the guys are jamming, Lois lowers the volume of her car radio, sets the phone on speaker mode and silences everyone. "Lincoln, what happened? Where you guys?"

" _Travel sickness. We pulled over for a while, but we'll catch up_ ," Lincoln confirms while he breathes in through a paper bag. " _I think we should stop for the night. Rendezvous to the next inn_." He then ends the call as he is about to throw up again.

"Oh, poor Lincoln," Luna reacts.

"What happened to Lincoln?" Lana asks.

"And how was he able to call when he told he was travel sick?" Lynn wonders.

"Doesn't matter. Let's nurse him once we all meet in the inn," Lois insists. "Lara, we have the first aid in the back, right?"

"In the back? It's under my seat," Lara confirms.

"Okay good. Let's just us head for the night," Lois replies.

But Leah has a concern of her own, "Uhmm Lois, I think we better hurry there."

"Why Leah? Do you need a drink or something?"

Leah then points to the baby beside her, "No, I think Lily needs a change."

And just like that, Lily spurts a sudden passing gas, prompting the girls to evade the stench inside the SUV.

"LILY!" they all scream as they open the windows for fresh air.

"We'll we better hurl to the inn. Hahaha. Get it?" Luan utters at a bad timing.

And with that, both parties rendezvous to the nearest inn for the remainder of the night.


	20. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 4

Just as agreed, the Louds and the Larks rendezvous to the nearest inn. The Larks family car arrive first. And as they park the car, Lynn instantly takes Lily out of the car and places her on a nearby bench to rid of her diaper. Firsthand, the athletic 13-year-old has a hard time to start changing her baby sister's nappies. "Gees, why was I put to baby duty? I don't know how to dispose of this thing!" she grunts.

Seeing her in trouble, Luna heads to assist her. "Gotcha sis!"

"What do we do now?" Leah asks while pinching her nose.

Lois then takes charge. "Okay Lara, book us some rooms. Take the girls with you. Get my wallet if you need to. And don't get any ideas."

"What?" Lara utters, "My stealing days are over, sis."

But Lois raises an eyebrow at her.

"And begging days. I have my gigs."

"Just don't get any ideas? I have our family credit card with me. Screw it up, and we're going nowhere," Lois warns Lara.

"Fine." She then takes Lana, Leah, Loui and Lena with her.

Lois then calls on Luan. "Uhmmm Luan, Luan, is it right?"

"Yes sir! Am I of sir-vice? Hehehe," Luan answers.

"Okay good, I need your help to get rid of the stench off the car." Lois then throws an air-cleansing spray to the 14-year-old jokester.

"Want me to spray some strong scent? That stinks. Hehehe. Get it?" she jokes, making Lois groan. "No seriously, I don't like the smell of the spray."

On the other hand, Luna demonstrates to Lynn how to dispose of a baby's soiled diaper and how to dress her to a new one. "Then, pat her with powder. Make sure don't skip this step so little dudette won't get rashes. Okay, wrap the upper part. Then, the straps. Not too tight. Just the right tight so it won't fall out. And that's how you change Lily's diaper."

"Impressive Luna!" Lynn commends her. "Where did you learn this stuff?"

"Home economics class. You have to really learn how to take care of your family," Luna adds.

"Wow, I wonder what it feels like being a mom."

"Me too."

"Mom taking care of us all…"

"Yeah…"

But the two shrug it off.

Meanwhile, Lara is busy trying to book rooms for the families, and the rest of the girls wait in the lobby's orange-lit lounge, minding their own business.

Lana finds a picture frame showing dragonflies and shows it to Leah. "Hey, check it out. Cool dragonflies."

But Leah backs off from her, "Can you not show the frame to me?"

"Why not? I thought you like animals?"

"I do. But I have my reasons. One, I don't want to see animal corpses for commercial display. And two, I am kind of scared of looking at dragonflies closely."

"They're not even scary. Just take a second to look."

Leah covers her eyes as she moves her head towards the frame. She peeks once but hides again. Slowly, after bouts of dodging her fear, she finally takes a closer glance at the dragonflies.

"Well, they look fascinating."

"Wait till you see them for real."

Lena and Loui get to witness this blooming friendship.

"Isn't that wonderful that Lincoln's younger sister gets to bond with Leah?" Lena shares.

"Yeah…guess so," Loui responds.

"Why don't you?"

"What do you mean me? I get to talk with one of them."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Lori. She's exceptionally open…when she…"

"When she what?"

"Uhmmm…"

"She just told you how to prepare the cupcakes. You have to share your life with the rest."

"I guess so. Speaking of sharing, I saw a sneak peek of…"

Suddenly, Lena's phone beeps, signaling a text message, to which she reads. "Oh, the guys are here now."

But just after that, Lara approaches them, having secured two rooms for the families. "Okay girls, got our rooms. Not let us roll 'cause I need some rest."

"Lara, they're here," Lena reminds her.

"Oh. Good," Lara reacts unsurprised. She then throws the keys to Lena. "Okay Lena, head to the rooms. Take charge, and no monkey business. And don't talk to strangers."

"Like there are any strangers here," Loui says.

"There are," Lara confirms, making Loui cower to the side.

With that, the five head to the rooms while Lara rejoins with Lois and company to welcome the other party.

* * *

Enter Vanzilla, whose windshield from the inside has been covered with Lincoln's barf. Lois, Luan, Lara, Luna and Lynn just have their eyes wide open as to what happened to the other party.

"Poor Vanzilla," Lynn comments.

"That doesn't look good," Luna utters.

"You tell me. They might heave a bad travel. Hehe," Luan untimely jokes. "Okay, I'll stop."

Lincoln quickly opens the door and races to a site of the nearest drainage where he tosses the rest of his lunch. Leni assists him, providing him a bottle of water and patting him on the back.

"There, there Lincoln. Just let it go," Leni encourages him.

The rest of girls get out of the van with contempt on their veins.

"That's it. I'm not sitting with Lani on the same lane!" Lola complains, making Lani pout.

"It's okay Lani. She won't get to you," Lyra assures.

"I told you I should take the wheel!" Lacy scolds Lori.

"Well, I would have been driving smoothly if you would just let me take the wheel!" Lori shouts back.

"Okay, hold it girls!" Lois stops them. "Lacy, you're being tense again."

"Tense?! Lori's the one driving beyond the speed limit!" Lacy defends herself.

"Alright, just stop it you guys," Lois insists. "We already have problems on each of our cars. Let's set personal grudges aside and settle this later. Okay?"

But Lacy acts snobbishly.

"I'll go clean up the van," Lori says.

Lois then commands Lacy to help her.

"What?! She's the one being hotheaded. It's her fault," Lacy attests.

"Say one more excuse, and I'll tell mom to force you to sleep in the maiden's room in the cabin," Lori persuades her.

Groaning at her expense, Lacy reluctantly helps Lori clean up the vomit in the van.

The latter then announces "Okay girls, get your stuff for the night. And let's head to the rooms. Are they prepared, Lara?"

"Good, sis," she confirms.

"Good. Like I said, get your stuff for the night and follow Lara; she'll lead you to your rooms." And just like that, the girls from Vanzilla do what Lois instructed them to do.

* * *

Later on, the guys, excluding Lori, Lois, Luan and Lacy, converge to one room for a preannounced huddle. Luna is jamming along with Lara, Leah, Lynn and Lucy; Lola, Lana, Lexi and Lani are pillow fighting; Lisa and Loui are playing snakes 'n' ladders; Leni and Lyra (while filming herself and Leni for a video streaming post) are rocking Lily and Lulu to sleep, respectively; and Lena is tending to the care of Lincoln.

"Seems terrible what you're facing," Lena utters.

"You don't know the half of it," Lincoln responds.

"Sure you don't want wonton soup?"

"No, I'm good. I think a rest would do and the medicine."

Lena then tidies up Lincoln's pillow and lays him to rest before giving him vitamins syrup. "Hmm a treat?"

"A treat sounds fine before bedtime," he says.

Hearing his request, Lena pulls out a chocolate glazed doughnut from her jacket. "I bought this downstairs. I thought we could share." She then breaks the doughnut in half and gives the other half to her twin.

As he receives half of the doughnut, Lincoln raises it to Lena for a toast. "Cheers?" In response, she toasts the doughnut to him before both of them feed on the pastry, as a way of complementing their friendship.

At a distance, Loui takes a sight of this, feeling deterred at Lincoln and Lena's consistent friendship.

"Oh, I know the feeling. The endothermic response of envy procured the rewards and resolutions of our biological beings," Lisa states. "That is why I never have any friends. Only professional colleagues, affiliates and associates. Companionships can be abused."

"No, I'm not jealous," Loui clarifies to her, "I am just proud that Lena has found a friend after a long time. I am just proud of her."

"Alright, glad that you rectified that claim," Lisa dully replies.

After a while, Lori, Lois, Luan and Lacy arrive at the room after successfully cleaning up their cars.

Lori then holds the meeting in process. "Alright guys, I just want to say I apologize for the ranting and the mess that went to those who rode in the van. I literally acknowledge my mistake, and so as Lacy there." Lacy grunts to her in response. "But Lois and I decide to take immediate action to resolve this mistake. We are going to reshuffle the seating arrangements."

The group have mixed reactions. Most of the girls who were in the family car react against the change, since they already formed a bond. While the girls from the van agree to the plan.

Lois then gives her opinion. "Look guys, we each have our off days. And hopefully, our off days would have this reaction. But since we had, we need to settle this thoroughly. Okay? Or else we would not have fun."

Because of that, the group reluctantly accept the move.

"Okay, then it's settled," Lori declares.

"Alright, since we'll be reshuffling, we agree to reassign drivers," Lois continues. "So Lori will still be driving the van since she's the only one qualified to do so. But Lacy will drive the family car."

"Me? Drive?" Lacy questions her sister.

"Yes, you. Since you boasted that you are better in driving, why don't you drive?" Lois states.

Lacy is having second thoughts with this idea. But she is more than thankful and hesitant for taking the responsibility.

"As for the rest, we'll be assigning your seats tomorrow," Lori adds, thus finishing the meeting.

As others garner mixed thoughts about the changeup, Lincoln wonders where he is going to settle along in the travel.

* * *

Next morning confirms it when he is placed at the front of the family car, which Lacy is driving.

While that seems to be a breath of fresh air, Lincoln's confidence dies down when he sees Lacy's hands tense on the wheel. For hours in travel, she acts in the same way and never utters a word or a sound to Lincoln, leaving him puzzled.

"You know you could just pull over because you need to chill," Lincoln advises.

"Stop talking Lincoln. I need to focus here," Lacy persuades him. "I cannot let noise interfere my driving."

"How come? There's noise around."

"I know. So that's why you need to silence or you'll make it worse."

"Why? Are you not used to this?"

"I am. Why would you ask that?!"

"So, you are not used to this?"

"I know how to drive. I had my license. I just…just…don't like the road."

Hearing that, Lincoln gets worried for what is to come in their travel to the cabin.

"But I swear, just hold on tight because I'll not screw this up," she assures.

"I sure hope so," Lincoln remarks while facing miserably to the readers.


	21. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 5

Back at Lori's end, she agrees for Lois to navigate the way and guide her in her driving.

"Now just be calm. We're not in a hurry. We're just in a smooth cross-country to the mountains," Lois assures.

"Okay, okay, just let me move," Lori replies.

"That's it. You're being a good driver. Just stick it to 65 mph. And we will be fine."

Suddenly, Lori nearly bursts from Lois' repetitive promises. "Lois, I literally know what I'm doing!"

But Lois successfully calms her down. "Lori, you're not driving alone. Remember that. Now, just drive smoothly and don't let your temper do the driving."

At that note, Lori is able to control her anger and take hold of her speed. "Okay, doing good…doing good…"

"That's good. Don't worry, I save you chewy chocolate chip cookies with huge chunks of chips. I used the crumbled chocolate bars to do so."

"For real?! Need to have one!"

"Hold your horses. You're in the wheel." Lois then passes the cookies stored in a Tupperware to Lyra, who is seated right behind her.

The other girls are doing their usual gimmicks; and in terms of antics notorious to Vanzilla, the girls seem to be peaceful as of the moment. On the front seats behind the driver's seat, Lyra is casually tweeting every moment; Lexi tries to make paper pranks, but Lynn keeps a close, tense glare at her. On the middle seats, Lana is playing with the moisture to draw stuff; Lena browses through her phone; and Lisa is reading through "Gorillas in the Mist" by Jane Goodall. And on the backseats, Luan is casually making funny faces at Lulu while Lara keeps a close watch on them.

All the while, the entourage is passing through mist-filled terrain, signaling that they are almost at their destination. None of which provoke some awareness.

Switching to Lincoln's end, he notices the thick fog that encroaches from the mountain peaks, setting a vibe that resembles the experience of watching _Twin Peaks_. Though it might seem normal for the everyone, it is really thought-provoking for Lincoln to witness a change to the eeriness.

"Lyra, are the mountains really like this?" Lincoln asks to Lacy.

A concentrated Lacy then belatedly hears Lincoln's question. "Hmmm…ohh…yeah. Even in summer. Happens when humidity drops significantly, sending rains or hail. But normally it is foggy."

"So, that means there might be some supernatural stuff happening…"

"Lincoln, anything but supernatural happened in our place."

Hearing Lacy's beliefs unintentionally leads Lincoln to be dismayed.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"No, it's fine. It's stupid. I mean, it's kids' stuff right? Believing in ghosts…"

From there, Lacy can feel Lincoln's enthusiasm about their new place. Not wanting to spoil him, as she is a supporter of motivation, she goes along with encouraging him. "Well, if you don't want your bubble burst again, there are urban legends at our place."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the super mysterious stuff." Lacy begins to tell the tale. "Well, it was told that across the lake – the lake by the way is called Lake Lynch – there used to be a rest house that was told to be modern-looking. The one who built it was a war veteran. He was fascinated with the mountain that he thought that he would build up his dream house there. Though many think that is impossible. Then, surprise, no one helped him. But he still went to achieve building it. After three years, he finished building it but had to abandon it when he succumbed to his exhaustion and died. It was believed he was carried away by 'mist nymphs'. But that sounds absurd. It was not too long time ago that caretakers of the lake discovered the house. But they had to demolish it when a developer claimed the land years ago. For what was a beautiful sight that a man wanted to achieve, it became his demise."

After telling that story, Lacy looks back to Lincoln, seeing him casually stirred. "Oh, did I scare you? Was it too dark?"

"I'm used to the dark. Well, there's Lucy," Lincoln answers.

"Right. Just brace yourself."

As he dials his phone to call Lena, Lincoln keeps his eyes on the commencing fog, even as they pass by the peaks and enter a tunnel. He then glances at the back of the car, where the rest of the girls (Lani, Lily, Luna and Leah in the middle; and Leni, Lola, Loui and Lucy in the back) are either passive or at awe at the unique beige lighting of the tunnel. Lena does not able to answer.

After several miles along the mountainous part of the freeway, the party exits to a secluded roadway. It is still accessible and decent for travel, despite the few number of motorists passing by. Several miles later, they turn to a zigzag road, leading to a humid rocky terrain. They come across a paved road, leading them to a path going to their secluded cabin.

"Guys, fasten your seatbelts. This will get dirty," Lacy advises the group, which they instantly follow.

The path is predictably rock-strewn that Lincoln has his head hit to the windows many times. Lily cries from the commotion, but Luna tries to calm her down. Gladly, the family SUV is an all-terrain vehicle. The less can be said for Vanzilla when all the occupants are lagging behind the first party and are having a bad travel.

"Lori, shift the gears!" Lois demands.

"I'm literally trying my best!" Lori emphasizes.

Everybody else hangs dreadfully on to their seats as the van trudges through the rocky path.

But the family van seems to be on good hands as they travel to the smoother road of the area. Lincoln observes the high-rising trees and the lush, humid landscape that surrounds the path. And from a line of tree, there it is, the place that the Lark family boasted, their cabin in the woods. The roofs are of two gables with a chimney erected. The wooden staircase leads to a long porch that leads to the prestigious interiors.

The Louds are at awe of the view of the Larks' concealed vacation house. As the car stops at the front, an excited Lincoln steps down from the car and marvels at the beauty of the cabin in front him. He breathes in the air and exhales it deeply. It is just one remarkable feat to brace at Mother Nature.

The others get down from the vehicle and unload their stuff. Lani and Leah hurriedly pick up their stuff. Luna continues to feed Lily with milk from her baby bottle. And Loui, Leni and Lucy are stuck at unloading duty. Lacy, meanwhile, unlocks the door to the cabin. And as she opens the door, Lincoln gazes in awe of how neat their vacation house is.

The cabin consists of a game room, a lounge and a guestroom below; a living room by the door, a dining room, a kitchen, a storage room and viewing deck by the lake on the ground floor; and two master bedrooms, two bedrooms with bunk beds and balcony viewing deck on the upper floor. It is entirely decorated with hunting memorabilia and scouting décor, especially with the portraits. Its beige lighting just made the ambiance even cozier.

Lincoln then sneaks through the kitchen to step on the viewing deck to the lake. The lake is situated on a mountain. So, it is really amazing that it shimmers amidst the foggy atmosphere. Its surrounding is filled with conifer trees and mountainous peaks. It is one breathtaking view that he is lucky to have seen.

"Wow…" he utters in awe, just to emphasize his amazement.

"We only get that kind of view rarely," Loui says from behind while carrying bags with her. "Aunt Rebecca would always paint or take pictures of the lake just as the sun sets, where the sunshine would color the lake."

"Yeah." Lincoln then notices Loui. "Oh, you need help there?"

"Nope I'm fine." But Loui struggles to carry them all at one carriage. "Okay, need help."

With that, Lincoln rushes to her and assists Loui in carrying their stuff. "Don't…put much weight to yourself. Oh, sorry I might have…"

"No, it's fine. I'm used to it," Loui asserts. "My friends would count on me with carrying heavy stuff for them. They would call me 'Muscu-Loui'. But I think that's a tease."

"Oh, poor thing."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, just don't mind them. You're better than them."

"You really think so?"

"Well…I have yet to know more about you. But I know you're a good friend."

"Oh Lincoln!" Loui then drops the bags and embraces tightly on Lincoln, just to show her appreciation. "I never thought you would say that."

"Okay Loui, you can hold that up. I feel…I'm…"

Realzinig that she actually hugged him tightly, Loui drops Lincoln. "Oh, sorry Lincoln. Got too excited."

"It's fine. I actually like you hugging."

Loui smiles at what he said.

But at that right moment, the van arrives after a long and hefty travel.

"The other guys are here! Let's go!" Lincoln then rushes to the second party, with a suddenly despondent Loui following him from behind.


	22. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 6

At the arrival of the 2nd party, everyone on it feels aggravated with their arrival. One by one, they step out of the van, relived that they don't have to endure another stretch of road to their destination.

"Land!" Lyra utters, but she accidentally trips to the ground face first. "Just great. Need facial cream for this."

"Stop being a drama queen and get up, sister!" Lexi scolds her, just as the girls get out of the van, each of them having their own experience with the travel.

"Finally, I can breathe!" Lynn says.

"Well, you can breathe. I can get used to this!" Lana proclaims, as she dives to a nearby puddle of mud.

"Is your sister like this?" Lara, with Lulu strapped on her, asks her.

"Mud is just her thing," Lynn explains. "Like for real. She would just roll over to any mud puddle she sees."

"Seems a lot of getting used to."

"That's Lana."

Out of nowhere, Luan pops right behind Lara and meddles on her, "Hey Lara, when we looked outside, it seems that the mountains won't stop moving. Won't they ever-rest? Hahaha. Get it?"

Predictably, Lara gets annoyed by Luan's puns. "Yep. A lot of getting used to."

Afterwards, Lisa, wearing earmuffs, steps out of the van, seemingly annoyed by their travel. "Note to self, never engage a conversation involving grey matter and mucophagy."

"Lisa, how did it went?" Lincoln approaches and asks her.

"The trip? Oh just leave it to the older people to give that impression away." Lisa then points to Lori and Lois who are arguing.

"I told you how to maneuver on rocky terrain, but you still insisted to do it yourself," Lois argues to Lori. "Now look at your van." Remarkably, Vanzilla receives less scratches than expected. But one fatal damage is seen on the bumper.

"Well, it wouldn't have happened if you just let me focus!" Lori attests.

"If you just let me show you the way here," Lois defends.

"Okay, you know what, fine. I literally made our travel miserable, thanks to you, thanks to me. How's that?"

"Alright fine. I just want to chill this thing off." Lois then walks out on Lori, still possessing her resentment on Lori's treatment. "Can we just go inside?"

"Get your stuff guys." At Lori's signal, the girls gather their stuff strapped or placed on the van and somehow pile them adjacent to the wooden staircase leading to the porch of the rest house.

"You alright?" Lincoln asks Lori.

"Yeah, fine. I'm totally fine," Lori says. "It is just her over-control needs to stop." She then heads back to the van to park it.

"Glad she didn't reach a Category 5 anger," Lena, who came behind Lincoln, comments. "Lisa told me about the 5 Anger Level categories of the Loud family. Boy, seeing Lori mad is not a fun sight."

"Yeah, she means a lot. She just…cares a lot that…she doesn't how extreme she can get," Lincoln remarks.

"I see. Does that include Luan? Because I can't stand Luan. I tried to beat her jokes but she fights back. 'There was this story about two crustacean lovers,' she said. 'Is that a lobster-y?' I asked this way. Then she looked at me frowning. She replied, 'Aww don't be so crabby'. That gets annoying."

"Don't worry, you'll definitely love my sisters. And they might appreciate you too."

"Well, I suppose so. I can't be that crabby at first impression." She then realizes that she reused a word from Luan. "O dang it! Now it's coming back."

Back on the matter at hand, the rest of the sisters carry their bags and enter the luxurious log cabin. They are amazed of how ambient their vacation house is. Given the lavish scenery, courtesy of the shiny wooden varnishing, this is easily an ideal dream home for the Louds.

"Wow!" the Louds utter.

"Okay, I literally take back everything what I said in the trip," Lori admits.

Feeling the luxury, the Loud sisters disperse and check out every attraction present in the cabin. While Leni, Lola, Luna and Lily snuggle on their beanbags by the fireplace, and Lucy stares breathtakingly by the balcony, Lana pounces on them and jumps around the hall, Lynn sneaks to the game room below, Luan plays with the grandfather clock that obviously sends out cuckoo signal, and Lisa examines the kitchen for gastronomical findings and tests each one of them, causing one to combust and disturbing Lucy. Each of their exploits intrude with the Larks.

Lois, Lori and Lincoln are stunned of the behavior that the Louds are displaying.

"Are you guys always like this?" Lois asks.

"Just them. But literally not me," Lori defends. But contrary to what she said, Lori gets easily attracted on a nearby huge flat screen TV. "Ooh, is that the latest high-definition TV with enhanced 3D technology?"

"Uhmm yes, don't know why it is fixed there, but it is there," Lois somberly replies.

"Ohh nice, I need to see how it looks like. Me and Bobby are planning to buy such for our planned apartment." Lori then hastily searches for the remote control.

Lois then takes controls with a blow from her whistle. "Alright Louds, meeting please!"

Hearing her say that prompts the rowdy Loud sisters to stop.

"Don't worry Lincoln. My sisters are also like this," Lois randomly mutters to Lincoln, pointing out that Lexi, Loui, Leah and Lani are horsing around in their supposed bedrooms.

As the Loud sisters huddle, Lois lays down the house rules. "Alright guys, when you are staying here in this house, you have to abide to the house rules."

"Rules, please. Why would a vacation house have rules?" Lola vents.

"Because it rules to have a vacation house. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan implies comically, making Lola groan.

"She has a point there," Lois remarks. "Okay, if we want to make this fun, let us just keep in mind these simple guidelines. Number one, follow the four meal routine: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner." Lynn then raises her hand. "Yes Lynn?"

"So that means no midnight snack?" she asks.

"Why would you guys have midnight snacks?" Lois wonders.

"You guys never have midnight snacks?" Lincoln questions her.

"We don't have to. We need to make Lani and Lulu sleep strictly before 10. So are the rest," Lois explains.

"It's like you're not even human," Lynn quips.

But Lois moves on. "We get it. But speaking of sleep, number two is curfew is at 10. So no one must loiter around the house by that time. And lights out."

"Come on!" some of the Louds groan.

"Don't blame me. Blame Uncle Lancaster. He hates it when we disturb his sleep," Lois points out. "Alright, number three, nobody goes out to the woods without supervision."

"Why? What's out in the woods, dude?" Luna asks.

"We haven't figured that out. We never actually trekked the woods. So, for all our safety, as much as possible, don't go out."

Lena then nudges to Lincoln's arm, signaling that she has an idea for him. As she winks to him, Lincoln nods back. Loui notices this implication and raises a brow for something seedy she thinks those two will be doing.

"And finally, rule number four, let's just stay away from misbehaving if we want to have this vacation for ourselves, okay?"

Lola then vents against this, "Misbehaving? Why don't you tell Lana about that?"

"About what?" Lana, covered in mud, surprisingly appears behind her twin sister, disgusting the latter.

"Ewww why don't you stop with your mud fiasco and get over with?!" Lola scolds her. But Lana is undeterred.

"Can someone give Lana a bath?" Lois requests. "And for the rest, room assignments."

"Can we just pick our own rooms?" Luan demands.

"Oh no no, I devoted two weeks just to schematically arrange all of you based on personal information at the most appropriate room arrangement I can formulate. So I will not lead it to waste!" Lacy persists.

"Wow, you devoted a fourteen-day interval of biographical data and personal statistics, just to formulate an appropriate room assignment?" Lisa reiterates. "I like that. Praises to using extensive research for something disposable." Though she accepts the compliment, Lacy feels irritated by Lisa's ending word.

"Why don't we just check the rooms first?" Lori requests, to which Lois accepts.

The entire company climbs upstairs and checks out the bedrooms. There are four bedrooms in the rest house, with two of which are master bedrooms, and the other two being dorms with four bunk beds. There are also two bathrooms and one big shower room on the floor. So, it is pretty reasonable why Lacy has to set room assignments.

"Well, this is promising," Lola sarcastically remarks.

"I don't get it. I thought we're supposed to be in a vacation house, not a military camp," Leni shares, "I saw this in a movie once."

"Because we're literally not," Lori replies back. "Okay, I suggest we Louds take this room. And the Larks take the other."

The Louds agree to the motion, but the Larks are less comfortable with that.

"Hold on guys, I thought we agree that this is a family bonding," Lois raises.

"Yes, this is. But we are literally having our own sleeping arrangements," Lori insists.

"I used to tell that on class whenever someone needs a nap," Lynn randomly utters. "Great hack."

"Look we have to decide this accordingly since not all can fit in one room," Lois explains, "And Lincoln has to stay in his own room."

"Me? Why do I have to stay in one room?" Lincoln asks vehemently.

"Because you're a boy, Lincoln. And you're staying in a house full of girls," Lacy points out. Though Lincoln understands this, he becomes stubborn at the proposal.

"Okay, how about this? Older kids on one room, while the young ones take one. Two girls have to stay in one room beside Lincoln's," Lois suggests.

"I prefer the single room. My intellectual capacity is not perfectly adequate to any lifeform in this household, except maybe Lacy," Lisa insists.

"Nope Lisa, no experimenting in this vacation," Lori warns her, "We don't want to make Coney Island happen ever again."

"Why? What happened in Coney Island?" Lena wonders.

Out on a sigh, Lincoln explains to her, "It's a long time ago. One time when we went to Coney Island, Lisa thought that the contamination by the bay would be a perfect site to raise her spider hybrid. But instead, the monster grew into the Cloverfield monster. And we shall never mention of the Cloverfield monster ever."

"Ohhh." Lena feels puzzled to Lincoln's story.

"How about I take the room for myself?" Lacy insists.

"Why do you have to take the room?" Lexi reacts against.

"Relax Lexi. Lacy's going to stay someone from the Louds." Lois then figures out who can Lacy stay with. "How about…you Luna?"

Luna is surprised with this suggestion. "Me? Dude, I don't think I can…"

"Fine with me," Lacy responds, "At least it's not Leni nor Luan."

"Why? Do you think we're going to room-in your mood? Hehehe. Get it?" Luan responds humorously, much to Lacy's dismay.

"Alright, then it's settled. I stay with the young ones to guard them, while you stay with the older ones," Lois proposes.

"Hey! Who you're calling old?" Lori replies. "But good, that's literally a good suggestion."

* * *

With that, the Louds and Larks are arranged in this way: Luna and Lacy are placed on one master bedroom; Leni, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lara, Lyra, Lena and Lulu are assigned to one dormitory, with Lori taking charge; Lana, Lola, Lisa, Lily, Loui, Lexi, Leah and Lani are consigned to the other dormitory.

As for Lincoln, at his red wool sweater, winter cap and blue mittens, he is left staying at the other master bedroom. He throws his bags to the bag and drops himself to the bed, having been exhausted for the day. "Finally. Bed by myself. Though, I'm myself," he sulks. Wanting to remove himself from bad lasting impression, Lincoln shares his thoughts to the readers of this fanfic, "You know, I'm getting way too ahead of myself. Don't want to spoil my mood when things didn't work out as I expected. Well, cautionary tale. Don't expect too much."

Abruptly, Lena shows up by the door with hot coco and plain oatmeal cookies with her. "I think you might need a snack."

"Oh thanks." Lincoln then takes a straight gulp of the hot mug and a big munch on the cookies. "Thank goodness for coco."

"Yeah, you might need it. Temperature's gonna drop by sundown. 10 degrees is the lowest. Glad we weren't here at that time. A lot of getting used to, especially Lois."

"Aahhh…" Lincoln utters after drinking the whole mug of coco.

"Want to see something awesome?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Come on. Let me show you." She then grabs Lincoln's hand and takes him towards the woods.

"Wait, we haven't told Lois yet."

"I already told Lois about it. Come on!" As Lena quickly drags Lincoln, Loui spots the two as they head downstairs. A little disappointment falls into her face, seeing that her sister/best friend is having fun while she is tidying up their rooms.


	23. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 7

Lincoln and Lena trudge through a hidden footpath, covered with leaves. The dew makes the ground mushier and wetter. Luckily, they wore booths to compensate for the murky path. They go deeper to the woods and nearer to the lake grounds.

"Where we going?" Lincoln asks her.

"Not so far. We're almost to the pond," Lena confirms.

"What pond?" He then accidentally trips from a thin twig and slips off from the slippery path until he bumps into the back of Lena. They then drop to the muddy ground.

"Lincoln!"

With that, Lincoln quickly gets up and wipes the mud off his clothes. "Sorry. Must have tripped."

"Yeah I see that." Lena does the same thing and wipes off the dirt.

All the while, they hear branch snapping from a distance. They feel that they are about to encounter something or someone approaching. The duo hide behind a tree's huge roots and peek whatever is in sight.

"See anything?" Lena asks.

"No," Lincoln confirms.

More commotion comes from the ground that they hide their faces from the impending warning. The sound gets clearer until Lincoln has enough and peeks to spot a white deer frolicking on the lush grasslands, surrounded by tall conifer trees.

"Oh, it's just a deer, and it's white," Lincoln observes.

Then Lena recognizes this discovery. "That must be it. Come on!" Lincoln then guides Lincoln to a slope next to them to get a clearer vantage point to observe the white doe. They sneak uphill and spot the deer feeding on grass. "There it is. It is rare you find these babies in the woods."

The deer then walks from its position and skips to its home. With that, Lena takes Lincoln's arm and guides him to the deer's destination. While they end up lost following the dear, they still follow the path until they end up in a reservoir where the said deer is panting for the waters. The reservoir is surround by tall fir trees and decorated by hedge shrubs along the stretch of the shore.

The two just observe the beauty that is just expressed in front of their eyes. Rarely do each of them witness a majestic beauty of a white deer peacefully living its life.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Lena shares.

"Yeah," Lincoln utters. "Kinda looks an alpaca."

Lena laughs at this observation. "Well, yeah, they're like that."

The two then spot a much larger deer with less gray fur approaching the first deer. That deer comes to the care of the other deer as it caresses its ears and neck. Lincoln and Lena soon realize that the larger deer is actually the mother to the small deer. After moments of glancing at a beauty from nature, the two deer depart back to the woods.

"That's…kind of wonderful," Lincoln utters.

"Yeah. The pond used to be filled with animals," Lena shares, "Beavers, raccoons, prairie dogs, others. But they're gone. Probably the season. Dad used to take me here, just to remove my fear of animals. I hate animals, as you know, when I was a kid. So he took me here whenever we came for vacation. At my first trip, there was this herd of deer, much like the deer a while ago. Anyway, they soon went away. But one got left behind. It was just a fawn, so I think he's still not used to the woods. But that said, it tries to find its herd, but only returns to the pond all over again. After a while, it stayed in the pond for days, waiting for its mom or dad. At our last day of vacation, I went back to the pond. And I saw the same deer. I hear it moaning and calling out to its herd, but they didn't hear it. So, it stayed for a while. I did too. But moments later…surprise, the mom went back for the fawn. It was so adorable that I couldn't hold my tears of how touching this moment was. Then I learned for the fact that we may have times we feel left out, but someone will find us and keep us safe. Well, that's how my mom told me when I told this to her. She's great."

When Lincoln hears this story, he lets it sink in to himself and ponders how it correlates to his experiences with his family. "I know what you feel," he reacts.

As the two return to contemplate aimlessly of what they've seen, Lara surprises them from behind. "Hey! What are we looking at, guys?"

"Lara!" they both scream.

"Don't scare us like, that," Lincoln retorts to her.

"I don't. I'm just told to," Lara defends. "Anyway, Lois and Lori are looking for you both. Let's go back."

Without any option, Lincoln and Lena go back to the cabin with Lara.

* * *

Back in the rest house, as sunset is on the loom, the girls do their own antics while Lois and Lori prepare for dinner. Loui is unfortunately relegated as assistant for the two main cooks, or mainly who hands over ingredients and nothing else.

"Where's the butter?" Lori asks.

"Right over here," Loui responds as she hands over the butter.

"Lori, don't put too much butter to the corn please. It amps the carbohydrates," Lois reminds her.

"Lois, I'm literally sticking to what I know to prepare for food. So just let me," Lori attests, to which Lois obliges.

Lara then brings Lincoln and Lena to the kitchen. "Here they are."

"Great. Need you two." Lois then commands for the two. "Lena, set up the table. We're about to eat. And Lincoln, call the others immediately. We're about to eat. And careful, they've been horsing around all day."

Before anything, Lori also reminds Lincoln, "Oh yes, Lincoln, you'll be on baby duty."

"What?! Me?! On baby duty?!" Lincoln complains.

"Yes, you literally are! Me and Lois have been busy taking of this house, and someone there has to keep her criticisms shut."

Knowing that Lori is referring to her, Lois reacts, "I heard that."

"So, I need a helping hand here, Lincoln," Lori raises her point, which Lincoln aversely accepts.

With that, Lena complies to setting up the table and Lincoln goes to call the girls, which is hard since the rest of them dispersed all around the rest house. Seeing that, he builds up his confidence. "Looks like another Loud House situation."

Lincoln first goes to the living room, where he sees Luna, Luan, Lyra, Leah and Lola watching The Voice. As they completely glue their faces to the screen, with the screaming and the hooting, Lincoln finds the remote control and switches the TV off.

"What?! Wait, what happened?!" they utter.

"I did," Lincoln confirms to them.

"What gives bro?! Mary from Team Blake is about to give her performance!" Luna protests, with the others agreeing.

"Dinner is served. So let me lead you all to the dinner table," Lincoln politely gestures.

"Pass. I have to see I John makes it to the finals!" Lola insists.

"I thought we took this vacation to have a 'vacation'. So Louds and Larks...please."

In response, the girls reluctantly go to the dining room.

"Thanks for shutting our voices down. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan responds to him.

"How about you save the jokes for later? They have yet to be cooked and served," Lincoln retorts back.

"Oh, I see what you did there."

Leah then approaches Lincoln. "Hey Lincoln, might you want to encourage Lola not to be rude around me? She's much of…proud if you know what I mean."

"I don't know what you mean. But get used to Lola. She tends to be too eager," Lincoln warns her.

"Got it. Oh, by the way, I hope this doesn't hurt you at all but you got off rude a while ago."

"Oh, sorry, if I rub you off the wrong way."

"It's alright." Leah then departs to the dining room.

Afterwards, Lincoln heads to the upper floor, where he spots Lily without her diaper and picks her up. "Lily, come here! Oh, where your diaper went?"

Lily can only utter by slurping blueberries.

Suddenly, Lexi flies above him, which made Lincoln dodge over.

"Hey! Watch it Lexi!" Lincoln then enters the bedrooms to see Lana, Lexi, Lucy and Lani having built bed forts and battling out through paintballs and dart guns.

However, when they see the bigger sibling enter the room, Lana signals for the rest, "Lincoln's here! Pile on him!" Then the girls start to throw themselves on top of Ash, burying him to the floor. Lexi pulls out the pillows and starts stomping on him. Lincoln starts to have fun of his own, which grabs the attention of the girls for more rough play and makes advantage for Lincoln to carry Lani and Lexi on his hands.

"Gotcha!"

"Hey Lincoln, catch this!" Lexi then shoots him in the face with her paintball gun.

"Okay, you had your fun. Dinner's ready!" At that signal, that two head down.

"Bro, you might want to wipe your face," Lucy says, handing him a handkerchief.

"Thanks," Lincoln replies.

"Hey Lincoln! Want to see my mud pie factory?" Lana asks.

"Maybe later, Lana. Why don't you go to the food factory first?" Lincoln replies.

"Okay!"

After that, Lincoln heads to the other room. But as he barges in, Leni, Lynn, Lisa and Lacy shush him as they attempt to stack an Jenga tower higher.

"Lincoln, you better be quiet. We're trying to make a record," Leni mumbles.

But her mumbling is so inaudible that Lincoln cannot interpret what she's saying. "What?"

"We're trying to make a record. So we must be quiet," she mutters again.

"Leni, can you speak louder please?" Lincoln loudly demands, which causes for Lacy to twitch, making the Jenga blocks collapse. All groan at their failure.

"Great Madame Curie," Lisa complains.

"What?! Don't blame me! Blame the one who distracted me," Lacy points to Lincoln.

"Dinner's up, guys," Lincoln reminds them.

"Thanks bro," Lynn says to him sarcastically, as they all go downstairs for dinner.

"Hey, sorry about that," Leni carrying Lulu utters to Lincoln.

"It's kind of my fault. But I'm good," Lincoln replies.

"Oh, phew. Well, Lisa told me to speak softly. So I did," Leni stresses.

"It's fine, Leni. Just go downstairs."

And with a beam of assurance, Leni heads down.

But with Lincoln behind, he goes back to the first bedroom where the older girls reside. Slowly, he hears silent tremors and feels a cold breeze sweeping to his feet. He moves slowly to the first bunk bed, feeling something eerie on his surroundings.

Just like that, darkness fills the room, and only a thud is heard.


	24. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 8

Meanwhile, downstairs in the dining room, each of the girls finds the seat of their selection. As the table is illuminated with elegant orange lighting, Lena walks around the table, amazed at the fusion of cabin interior and contemporary suburban design. Lani accidentally bumps on her leg, but Lena easily forgives her. Just as that happens, Lois arrives at the room with a platter of chopped spring chicken, an addition to the healthy dinner that the Larks served, along with corn & carrots, mashed potatoes, asparagus, savory broccoli, coleslaw, fish fillet, onion rings and macaroni salad. "Dinner is served!"

Her calling prompts for the girls to pay attention gradually and take their seats correspondingly. But Lena suddenly recognizes one absence in the group. "Hey, where is he?"

"Alright everyone, find your seats and let's feast," Lois insists.

"Hold on guys. Where's Lincoln?" Lena asks.

"Why are you literally worried about my little brother?" Lacy asks suspiciously.

"Because he's not with us. Shouldn't that be concerning?" Lena implies.

"He came after us. Probably got left behind upstairs to do something," Lynn says. "You know boys…"

"We don't even know what you're talking about," Loui indicates.

"Oh, you'll know soon," Lynn replies.

"Okay, can we make this simple?" Lois asserts. "Lyra, can you please check out Lincoln upstairs? Tell him we're about to have dinner."

"Uhhh okay," Lyra responds stutteringly. But she suddenly trips in front of Luna. "Ooh. Sorry."

After that, the girls settle down on the table, waiting for the two to return. Two minutes go by, the clock strikes at 8:10 PM, and their patience runs dry. Leni, Lynn, Lucy, Lara, Loui and Lexi bring out their phones, which Lani recognizes. "Hey Lois! They bring out their phones! They have phones on the table!" Loui quickly hides her phone as a stinky stench wraps the room.

"Okay, okay, thank you Lani for that," Lois replies. "Okay Louds, we in the house have a policy for no phones in the dinner table."

"What? Seriously? Your family has that?" Lori remarks out of shock.

"Yes, our mom told us respect is served on the table, thus we feed on respect by having no phones on the table," Lois explains.

"Please," Lola responds negatively. "What if you have an emergency call? How would you get your phone?"

"That's why I leave my phone away from the table, in a place where I can hear it, where I am not distracted," Lois stresses.

"Tell that to your sister," Lola points out to Lexi playing with her phone, while Lynn, Lana and Lily watch from behind.

"Lexi! Phone please!" Lois coaxes her little sister.

"What? It's not yet dinner time," Lexi defends.

"Speaking of dinner, where are they?" Lacy intervenes. "It doesn't take too long for someone to tell that dinner's ready."

"Just wait, Lacy," Lois says. "Probably, the two just chatted along the way."

"I would not buy that, because Lyra's too timid to talk that way," Lara remarks.

Out of the blue, Lexi takes away her phone and coaxes her big sister, "Okay, can we eat now?"

"Not without Lincoln," Lena insinuates.

Lois then interrupts to take control of the situation, "Look, here's what we do: we wait for them to come down, we pray for the meals, then we eat. Plain and simple."

"Wait, you guys still pray?" Lana asks.

"Uhhh yes?" Lois responds.

"Woah, glad I'm not alone," Lana remarks.

"Alright, I'm literally having enough of waiting," Lori vents. "I'll get the two."

"Oh no, Lori. Go back to your seat," Lois insists.

"I said I will get the two."

"Lori, please sit down first. They'll be down any moment."

Lori tries to get up from her position, but Lois insistently stops her. "Why are you so literally against me?"

"I'm not against you."

"So, why don't you want me to check out my brother?"

Luna agrees, "Yeah! It's seems like you don't want Lori to check on Lincoln. Seems like you're hiding something from us, dude."

"What?! No! That's absurd. Why would you come up with such a thing?"

Untimely, Lacy interrupts the scene, "Hey, if you mess with my sister, you mess with me."

"Okay Lacy, why don't you go back to your seat?" Lois requests. "I will take care of this."

"Oh, so you think can handle everything just because you're the oldest!"

"I can handle everything because I am the one responsible for everything!"

"Do you think you're the oldest that merits you to responsibility?!"

And at that note, Lois and Lacy start to argue, with Lori and Luna intervening. Along the way, the dining scene becomes a riot when Lexi quarrels over Lana and Lisa suddenly swiping her phone while playing; Lynn starts a food fight out of boredom, prompting a fed up Lucy, Luan, Lara and Loui to join along; and Leni and Leah try to grab Lily and Lulu back to the former's hands. All the while, Lena texts Lincoln multiple times, asking where he is, to no avail. The chaos continues to escalate, forcing Lena to bury her face to the dinner table and cover her ears. And just as she thinks that the situation will get worse, a scream is heard from upstairs.

Just at that moment, the girls stop what they are doing and head upstairs to check out who screamed. With Lori at their front, the girls spot Lyra screaming.

"Lyra, cut it out! Why you're screaming?!" Lyra questions her, leading Lyra to point at Lincoln laid down prone on the floor. Everyone gasps at this bewildering sight before each of them gather around. Each has her own thoughts, but Lisa intervenes to inspect Lincoln. "Stay back! Get him some air! Let me examine his body." She then checks the pulse on her brother's neck or any instinctive vital sign around him. With further examination, Lisa confirms, "He's fine. But he's unconscious."

"Oh, thank goodness," some of the girls react.

"What happened to him?!" Lynn asks.

"I am unsure," Lisa immediately replies. "An unconscious state could be a result of concussion to the cerebral cortex or probably an intake of a toxic sedative that can paralyze the neural and motor processes."

"Which means?" Lola continues.

"Someone may have beaten Lincoln to the head or poisoned him," Lisa lays it straight.

Lori then takes over the situation, impending on to blame someone. "Okay, thank you Lisa for that conclusion. And I just want ask this, LYRA, why?!"

"What? What are you talking about?!" Lyra replies hesitantly.

"You were the one who came back for Lincoln. What did you do to him?!" Lori accuses.

"Hey! Don't blame my sister like that!" Lois pleads.

"Well, why don't you ask her the same question, if you think she's not the suspect?" Lori insists.

"Oh, don't dare play games on me," Lois replies vehemently.

"Gees, so much for being the mother hen," Lacy comments.

"Shut up Lacy!"

Luna then stops them, "Okay, halt there, dudes! We're not going anywhere when we boil ourselves in anger!"

"Yeah, because it will be a heated mess. Hahaha. Get it?" Luan untimely jokes, causing everyone to groan.

"How would you joke in a time like this?" Lacy complains.

"What? It's my defense mechanism," Luan justifies.

"Some defense…If I were the suspect, I'd knocked you out next," Lacy implies, leading the rest to become suspicious. "I said 'if'. I said 'if'." But Luan is unconvinced. "Well, if there's one person to blame here, it is Leni, who never uttered a word."

"Why would Leni literally be responsible for this?" Lori questions her claim.

"What? Why would you blame me?" Leni asks troublingly.

"You supposed to keep a close eye on the babies. And you used that to your advantage when they soiled their pants while at dinner, so you can sneak back to the rooms and beat up your own brother for your own motives."

"Wait, I sneaked back to the room and beat up Lincoln? I don't know if that happened," Leni wonders, thus nullifying Lacy's accusation, making her slap her own face.

"Goodness Lacy, you have to blame on someone as clueless as you," Lara comments while chuckling.

"Pipe it, Lara!" Lara vents.

Lisa then takes over the situation, "Okay, the important thing here is Lincoln still has consciousness. It might take less than 48 hours for him to regain consciousness. In the meantime, we have to track down the suspect, and he or she might be in our midst."

With this accusation, the girls bolt out their individual defenses that they are innocent.

"Guys, we're all suspects! Okay?" Lois declares. "But if no one wants to admit their mistake, we must…investigate."

At that note, the girls gather at the living room, while Lisa and Lara examine the crime scene in the older girls' bedroom. Everyone is still petrified at the discovery of Lincoln being unconscious (that nears to death). But one thing is for sure, Lena senses the criminal in their midst. And she must stop him or her.


	25. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 9

Lena's POV

I knew for a certain that Lincoln's case is no mistake. The mystery is all over the place, and it seems that we have no lead for a certain. All we know is that Lincoln got unconscious upstairs while all of us were downstairs, except for Lyra, who got up to fetch Lincoln. But did she? Does she have something to do with this?

There I see her, being questioned by my sister Lois and Lori. "I swear! I just saw Lincoln on the floor. I swear I see him like it!"

"Oh really? Then why did it take you so long to shout when it can take you literally just a minute to do so?" Lori questions her.

Lyra tries to defend, but the girls have doubts.

I do too. The suspect may be one of us. I can feel it in my lungs. It could be any of us. But who?

Well, one thing I know – we are in an Agatha Christie situation here. At the back of my hand, I can almost feel a _Murder on the Orient Express_ vibe, the same way I see the trailer for the remake, complete with that Imagine Dragons song.

As I pass along the girls, I can sense each of their presence, and also the wails from poor ole Lyra, a.k.a. _The Climber_.

There's Luna, a.k.a. _The Musician_ , talking with Lynn, a.k.a. _The Athlete_ , and Lucy, a.k.a. _The Goth_ , about the case.

"Sure hope nothing happens bad to Lincoln," Luna shares.

"Me too," Lynn replies. "But who could have done this to our brother? Lucy, you must have sensed something! Or anything!"

"No séances around inside. Just the outside," Lucy confirms. "One thing's for sure: There might be someone else." That statement triggers some fear for Lynn. I can tell with her jitters.

Then there's also Lara, a.k.a. _The Cynic_ , by the fire, with my younger sisters Lexi, a.k.a. _The Bully_ , and Lani, a.k.a. _The Explorer_. I can see that poor Lani has a hard time accepting the situation.

"This never happened in our vacations before," Lani shrieks, "Why it has to happen now, where I supposed to see the only fauns in the summer?"

"Oh sure, keep fawning that in. I am sure they will come!" Lexi insults her. Typical.

"Lani, if I were you, I wouldn't put my hopes high on that," Lara corrects her.

"But I really want to see a real fawn," Lani asserts. "I heard that they graze at the lake every morning."

"Sure they do," Lara sarcastically implies. Well, it's usual for her to feel that way, especially in a time like this.

On the other side of the spectrum, there's the Louds. There's Leni, a.k.a. _The Blonde_ , who is crying over her brother's fate. Is she really this dramatic?

"I can't believe Lincoln is dead!" Leni wails.

"Oh, there, there Leni. We are all shocked," Luan, a.k.a. _The Harlequin_ , comforts her. "But I believe things will go shell. Hahaha. Get it?"

However, Leni still cries over Luan's joke. Is Luan really that tasteless in her jokes? Or does she do it for the sake of joking? Oh well…

Lana, a.k.a. _The Soiled_ , stresses my point exactly, "Too soon, sis. Too soon."

Luan's forced laughing kinda gets on my nerves. Needless to say, to Lola's as well. "Can you keep it down with the jokes?! We had enough for one day!"

Well, that sets my point. Clearly, everybody has gotten on their nerves. But there's something else: trouble is brewing between Lacy, a.k.a. _The Control Freak_ , and Lisa, a.k.a. The Genius. As usual with contending smarts, they have to always argue, especially when they together have to investigate.

"You were the last to leave the room!" Lacy argues.

"You were the one who brought us in!" Lisa vents with her weird lisping voice.

"Are you trying to accuse me of knocking out your brother?" Lacy counters.

"Well, basing on your possessive behavior and tyrannical oversight, I could see that as a possible alibi," Lisa explain. "I don't know how, but there at least 300 probabilities."

"Oh yeah, as if you can forensically pick up evidence against me," she whines. Lacy is typically like that. Well sure, she is a scholarly prodigy and active in school. But I think I know why she made those achievements her security blanket.

"Keep it down, you two!" Lois commands them.

"I would if Mrs. Intuitive here would stop accusing me," Lacy berates to her own defense.

"It's just a theory. Don't take it too personally. Or else, you would be ridden by bias," Lisa blandly implies.

"Oh, don't you take that on me!" Lacy then tries to grasp Lisa by her own bare hands, but Leah stops her.

"Sis, please. There's no need to fight. Lincoln's in trouble. And you be focusing on him! Lacy, please!" she reprimands her. Kind of unbelievable for her to do.

"Thank you, human," Lisa proudly acknowledges, "See, you better listen to your younger sister."

"Oh, don't you dare play games on me!" Lacy snarls, and the two resumed fighting. Well, that's a waste.

But I should not get lose my optimism, especially when Lily, a.k.a. _The Infant_ , and Lulu, a.k.a. _The Toddler_ , are also fighting?!

It's so painful to see that, two of the most adorable things on the planet, actually understanding the situation and arguing it over. There goes Lulu, belittling her little sister from another mother. And there goes Lily, accusing her back. Even with just their gibberish, I can feel their emotions. I have to stop them.

I pick up Lily and try to grab Lulu's hand, but she's being spoiled now, and wants to continue quarreling.

"Lulu, no. No fighting with Lily. No," I warn her, but she keeps on snarling on her.

"Noh noh! Lily!" she pesters with sticking her tongue. But sweet relief, Lois, a.k.a _. The Matron_ , stops Lulu and pulls her closer.

"No Lulu, we don't do that to our guests," she cautions her.

Lori, a.k.a. _The Boss_ , carries Lily for me and insists to her, "No Lily, don't. Don't sink lower than that Lulu."

"Any problem with that?" Lois asks suspiciously.

"Oh nothing, literally," Lori sneers back.

Gees, I never would have thought that Lois would reach this level of aggravation since the day we had to move from San Francisco to Royal Woods. Well, she's the mother hen. Who could blame her for her responsibility to watch over us?

But that's the point. Here is a clash of differences between us, the Larks, and the Louds. But I need to find out who is the real suspect of Lincoln's unconsciousness. So, that makes 10 Louds and 10 Larks, meaning 20 suspects including me. But I know I didn't do it. Yet, I missed somebody on my count. As I dig deeper, recounting the girls, someone then shockingly taps me on the shoulder. I flinch and I ready to strike, and there I see Loui calling me.

"Lena, are you okay?" she asks.

"Oh, it's just you," I utter, "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry, I just thought that you need to know that they found that Lincoln was poisoned. Possibly a drink that got spiked," Loui deduces.

"That's very strange. Why would one of us ever do that to Lincoln," I address, "Well, there's one thing to find it out. We need to investigate ourselves."

"But Lacy and Lisa are already investigating."

"With their clashing smarts?" I cite their constant arguing.

Nevertheless, Loui is hesitantly convinced. "Oh well. At least it's not babysitting Lulu."

"Good. Now we need a lead, an evidence and gear," I bring that up to Loui, a.k.a. _The Sidekick_.

"That's a lot, Lena," Loui raises to me, "It takes a detective to have that."

"And who do you think I am?"

"Uhhh…you are?"

Then, with a little swagger and big confidence, as much as what Hercule Peirot would always do, I say to her, "I am Lena Loud, and I think I'm this family's greatest detective. Let's go."

And with that, the mystery solving starts with…Lyra, who is still crying.


	26. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 10

With the case brewing in their sight, Lori and Lois set up a makeshift trial court in the living room to properly interrogate the rest of the girls. As for the case itself, Lisa and Lacy take the case themselves, but their contrasting views and intelligences make it difficult to work with each other. That goes the same with the rest of the girls, arguing family against family.

Insults are everywhere, and pointing fingers surround the scene. As the situation starts to erupt, so does Lori's who had enough of hearing their berating. And at the point, she scolds them all, "Will you be quiet?! We are literally in the point of nowhere! And Lincoln's literally on coma! So, I don't want another problem getting in our way! Let's do seriously!"

Just with that, the girls quiet down, though the Louds (composing of Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lola and Lily) keep their suspicious sights on the Larks (composing of Lara, Lyra, Lexi, Leah, Lani and Lulu).

"Okay, thank you Lori for that. You can calm down now," Lois replies.

"Good," Lori thanks calmly, though she reverts back to blaming, "…because I would have done literally the same to you, Lois!"

"What are you talking about?!" Lois asks her.

Lori then throws out her suspicions, "You suggested us this house for a summer vacation, just because it is the perfectly location to knock our brother unconscious, and for you to trap us to your evil schemes!"

"Oh, so we're going back to accusing, ehh? With no clear evidence?!"

"Don't you dare trap me. I know what you are doing."

"You don't even have a clue what I am doing. I might think you don't know what you're doing too."

And just like that, the girls resume arguing, which is the best for the Louds to do. Though, the Larks nearly capture the range of arguments that the other family is throwing at them. It is because Lexi tends to be the more pestering, who accuse and tease the Louds at the same time.

* * *

As that is going on, Lena and Loui sneak to the room where Lyra stayed, to where the crime scene is. The room seems in typical arrangement, if it is ever used by someone staying in for vacation. They also examined the spot where Lincoln laid from being unconscious.

Lena then infers the information available, "So, they said Lincoln was poisoned. And he laid down here. There are two things in that case. One, someone may have sneaked in a chemical substance to sedate Lincoln, whether it may be intentional or not. Two, Lincoln may have drunk something that is sedated. But how would he drink it here?"

"Probably he is thirsty? I think?" Loui suspects.

Lena then scouts the floor. She finds nothing but dust, clutter and some socks on there. Not wanting to quit the search, she sniffs on the wooden floors where Lincoln lied down. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, until she moves her nose to the part where Lincoln pressed his chest. She inhales the scent and senses the smell to be fragrant.

"What do you see?" Loui wonders.

"Not see. Smell," Lena clarifies, "It's something unlikely. Probably it's detergent. Or…" She sniffs heavily, finally recognizing the smell. "Jasmine."

But before she could make her deduction, Lisa and Lacy show up by the door and stop her. "Lena!" the latter warns her, "What are you doing in the crime scene?"

"What do you think I am doing?" Lena retorts back, "I am doing my own progressive investigation."

"But we are the official investigators for this rousing case, but my partner here won't stop heckling about the difference between criminology and forensic science," Lisa argues.

"They are basically connected. Studying criminal behavior goes hand in hand with discussing about studying criminal laws," Lacy proves her point.

"They are different fields of study!" Lisa elaborates.

But Lena successfully interrupts the situation. "You know what, it's best that I should go…downstairs."

"Good option," Lisa replies slyly.

"Yeah, and leave us alone. We're in the case here!" Lacy reminds heavily.

What the two did not know is that Lena carried the evidence with her by wiping off the scent from the crime scene. She confronts Loui about this. "Got everything we need."

"You wiped the scent, all to yourself?" Loui asks, to which Lena nods on. "I don't know if that is illegal or what. But I think it's kind of wrong."

"Look Loui, it's either them or us to catch the criminal," Lena argues, "We have to do this on our own. Let's check out Lyra. She may know about this scent.

* * *

As the two Lark sisters head down, the argument still continues between the Louds and the Larks. Lena and Loui fortunately are able to evade the ongoing brawl. They spot Lyra sitting by the side, wrapping her arms around her legs to her body and still contemplating about her finding. As she mutters up words, Lena and Loui show up to her, to which she got scared at.

"Sorry for scaring you. But you said you're an expert in scents right?" Lena confirms.

"In a time like this Lena? I have no time to put on my cologne," Lyra whimpers.

"No, it's not that Lyra. We're investigating. Can you help us?"

"I thought Lacy is?"

"Well, Lacy is busy." Lena then shows the handkerchief that she used to wipe off the scent. "Can you help us? Can you sense what the smell is? I know it's jasmine, or smells like it, but I have to know what."

With that, Lyra spreads the scent to her wrist to properly recognized it. After a few sniffs, Lyra deduces, "It's kind of…different. It's like mom's. Mom started using those detergents with perfume scents ten years ago. But this one is kind of what she used at work. I can tell because I touched one of her perfumes, and the smell just graced on my hands."

At that deduction, it becomes clear to Lena that Lincoln was not sedated but rather knocked out on purpose, with someone clenching Lincoln by the chest part on his shirt and knocking him out.

Lyra also indicates, "I think I brought in the trip. But it's nowhere in my bag."

"Wait, you brought the perfume here?" Loui checks.

"Yeah, but like I said, it's not with me," Lyra clarifies.

"It can only mean one thing. The suspect may be one of us!" Lena deduces. "Though that is pretty much given. Stupid me."

"So, what do we do?" Loui asks.

Lena then puts her eyes to her older sister, aiming to corner her. "Well, we better question our dear sister Lyra here." In response, Lyra is kind of frightened with her little sister's suspicions. "So Lyra, what do you have to say to yourself?" Lyra trembles in fear and guilt. "About to dear old Goodie!"

"Don't dare pick on Goodie!" Lyra bemoans about her pink plush elephant whom she named "Goodie" and eventually was gotten ridden off after she accidentally threw to Lois on a bicycle and knocked her down. Thus, she serves as a truth serum for Lyra. "Goodie is a good girl! And I will never let her be dragged down, just because I was the suspect! I just saw Lincoln on the floor, unconscious and something red on his nape! I don't know what it is…"

"Wait?! Something red on his nape?" Lena confronts her. "Where's Lincoln's body?"

"We all agreed that he be kept on the couch until further notice, and no one must touch Lincoln," Lyra explains. "But I think it was a scratch. Or a scrape, if I know what is a scrape."

With all the information that her big sister has given, Lena picks up the pieces of the case and formulates this deduction, "Lincoln could have been knocked out by somebody hits his nape." With that, she suggests, "We have to get back to the room."

"But we're not allowed," Loui says.

"Might as well take desperate measures to solve this case," Lena expounds. "Thank you Lyra for that exponential reveal." With that, the duo leaves for upstairs.

"Yeah good…whatever it is you said," Lyra awkwardly replies.

As Lena and Loui arrive back at the crime scene, they spot Lacy and Lisa still arguing over the case. This gives them an advantage to sneak to the room and search for more clues.

"What are we looking for?" Loui asks.

"Some scratch or something," Lena mentions.

From top to bottom, they quickly search the room, to no avail. That is until Lena notices the wooden bar on the first bunk bed to her left. There she sees one part of the wood nearly chipped.

"I knew it! Lincoln got knocked out here. The suspect may have grabbed Lincoln and knocked him here. But the questions is who could be carrying the fragrance? We need a tracker!"

"But who could track scents?" Loui asks.

Then, out of the blue, Lucy shows up to them. "Maybe I could help."

This scares the two of them. "Lucy! Do you always appear out of nowhere?!"

"Whenever the call of the wind summons my spirit, I shall float with it," Lucy utter poetically. "You said you need a tracker. I got one for you." She then snaps her finger, which signals for Lana to emerge out of the cabin air vents.

"I'm here," Lana says as she drops to the floor. "Man, I was expecting the air vents to be filthy, but it somehow has perfume in it."

"Wait? Did you say perfume?" Lena asks.

"Yeah, it was kind of strong. No wonder it stinks!" Lana replies.

Lena then takes out the handkerchief with the fragrance. "Here. Is this the one?"

"That's it!"

"Great! Now can you lead us to where the smell ends?"

"Why should I sniff perfume?"

With the same conviction that Lincoln uses, Lena persuades her, "Because you will be a junior detective who will protect her brother and sisters from the evil stench. Now lead us there!"

Somehow, it is effective for Lana. "Oh boy! What are you waiting for? Come on!" With that, she climbs back to the vents and retraces the scent.

Lucy the perceives, "So this means you are putting us in your investigation. We are Lincoln's sisters, and we will not stop till the suspect is caught, just like you."

"Go on Lucy. You're in," Lena permits. "But I'm still watching you. You're a suspect."

"You're a suspect too."

"Touché." Lucy climbs to the air vent, followed by Lena.

However, Loui stays behind. "I guess. I'll be staying here."

But Lena gives her assignments to do. She throws half of her notepad to Loui and tells her, "Get some info. We'll be back soon."

At that note, Loui is skeptical what to do. Though, she indeed watched episodes from _Sherlock_. So, she might have a stock knowledge of how to get through detective cases.

But as the night gets deeper, the darkness looms in the cabin.


	27. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Bonus Ch1

Inspired by a true story

* * *

While the Louds and Larks continue to divide themselves on solving who knocked out Lincoln, the latter in his induced coma recalls one particular moment with his sisters:

 _They visit at a wake of one of their dad's friends. The kids usually don't know who are friends to their dad, except when he introduces one to them. Even with their mom. Though, this is the perfect time for Lynn Sr. to introduce his children to his colleagues._

 _Nevertheless, after that, the kids get tired from walking around the memorial center that they retreat to the kid's zone, where the adults supervise their babies, or the nannies stay to guard their babies._

 _The Loud children, with the exception of Lori and Lily who are still with their folks, wait their aimlessly. Leni is trying to fix her hair but ruin them at the same time. Luna, Lola and Lynn are playing on their phones. Luan brings in more puns, much to the behest of the rest. Lana infiltrates the baby pen. Lisa observes the current behavior of the babies. And Lincoln and Lucy just stare mindlessly at them._

" _Just look at them, wanting to escape the clutches of such a juvenile cell," Lucy remarks about a baby who is shaking the grills around the playpen._

" _You do know that he's a baby?" Lincoln points out, "And babies are naturally juvenile until they develop to be toddlers."_

" _Exactly," Lucy monotonously utters._

 _At that point, Lola is fed up with the boredom. "This is getting off my nerves!" She then gets annoyed by Lana's ogling to the babies. "Lana! Can't you for once tell that this is boring?"_

" _What? At least, I get to do something," Lana replies._

 _When her attempt of complaining backfired, Lola sits back begrudgingly._

 _Luna, meanwhile, stumbles upon a deck of playing cards in the box of toys, encased on a plastic case. "Hey dudes! Check out what's in here."_

" _Ooohhh, who would ever leave credit cards in the toy box?" Leni remarks._

" _Uhmmm playing cards, Leni," Luna corrects her._

 _Lynn then jumps in excitement as her competitive instincts kick in. "Nice! So what's in it for? Poker? Go fish? Solitaire? Monopoly?"_

" _We don't use playing cards in Monopoly, Lynn," Lisa corrects her._

" _Oh really? Then what do you call the old man with the white mustache who runs away with bags of money? Where do you think he got that from?" Lynn brags._

" _That's just stupid justification," Lisa utters._

" _How about a game of 'guess the card'?" Lana suggests._

" _Who would ever come up with that kind of game?" Lola retracts, "Is there even a game like that?"_

 _Out of nowhere, Luan suggests, "Hey guys, how about we do mafia?"_

" _Really mafia? What does it have to with playing cards?" Luna asks._

" _Well, I would place my bets on hunting down the gangsters?" Luan quips, "Hahaha! Get it?"_

" _That's a stupid pun, even by playing card standards," Lisa comments. "Alright, let's play mafia."_

" _Mafia? What you guys are talking about?" Lincoln brings up._

 _Luan then explains the mechanics of the game, while Luna prepares the cards. "It's fun. It's like this: there's a village, and there's like two mafia gangsters, two cops and angel. Gangsters have the kings. Aces are the cops. The queen gets to be the doctor. Then the rest as villagers. You pick a card, and that will be your role. Here's the catch. There's a murder that the mafia will do. The goal is to figure out who among you is the gangster. For the cop, you have two bullets to spare. For the doctor, you have one use to heal someone. So, it's you killing…"_

" _Alright, I think I got it," Lincoln remarks._

" _You good?" Luan asks._

" _Let's just play and maybe I'll get it," Lincoln remarks._

" _Mafia it is then, guys!" Luan announces, prompting the siblings to gather in a circle several feet away from the playpen. The order of the circle goes like this (counter-clockwise): Lincoln, Lucy, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lisa, Lynn, Lola and Lana._

 _For the sake of those who are not familiar with the game, Luan explains the mechanics as she hands over the cards to her siblings. "Okay, everybody gets it?"_

 _As the sisters give their mixed answers, Lincoln looks at his card to see a not all relevant 3 of spades, assigning him as a villager._

 _Out of nowhere, Leni announces, "Oh guys, I got a…!"_

 _Thankfully, Luna stops her before she could reveal her card to the rest. "No, Leni! You can't tell who you are to us. You supposed to keep it to yourself."_

" _Is that what's going on?" Leni wonders, "I thought this is Uno cards?"_

 _The rocker sister then shushes her before she could reveal more clues._

 _Before the game starts, Luan repeats the instructions, "Now, like I said: those who have the kings be the mafia. Then the ace for the cop. Then queen as the doctor. And the rest of the deck as villagers. No joker. Got all of it?" The siblings then nod collectively. "Okay everybody, close your eyes."_

 _In anticipation, the siblings close their eyes, waiting for what surprise is to come. Lincoln fully lends his ear to his sister Luan. Only through her storytelling does this drive the narrative._

" _I still some people not closing their eyes," Luan notes. "Don't use your hands to shut your eyes. They ain't handy. Hahaha! But guys, cooperate." After everyone has his or her eyes shut, Luan continues, "Okay, now, mafia bosses, open your eyes. Be free to open your eyes."_

 _Lincoln meanwhile with his eyes puckered tries to sense on his sisters, even sensing through the vacuum. But nothing comes apparent. Only his personal deduction can do the trick._

" _Now, who do you wish to murder?"_

 _After a long minute, the cards are placed at the table, figuratively speaking._

" _Intriguing. Is that final?" When the gangsters nod their heads, Luan proceeds, "Okay. Close your eyes. Now I call on the cop. We have one cop. So, officer, are you going to take a bullet now?"_

 _The decision has been made. And it does not surprise Luan. "A no? Eyy. Alright close your eyes. Finally, the doctor. So are you going to use your healing powers now?"_

 _Just like the cop, she is not surprised. "Okay, I guess the doctor is being selfish now."_

" _Why doctor? Can't you at least heal me?" someone belches, which Lincoln deduces to be Lynn's._

 _We have an intriguing story in the papers." Excitedly, Luan instructs, "Okay, everybody, open your eyes. Rise and shine. It's daytime."_

 _After the Loud children do so, Luan lays down what happened, "Okay Loud clan, this is really good. Everyone had a pleasant night, but not for the one they call 'ballistic'. Hahaha!"_

" _Cut to the chase, dude," Luna insists._

 _Luan does so, "Anyway, our first victim is none other than…Lynn."_

" _WHAT?!" Lynn shrieks, "How could you?! How could anyone of you sneaky killers do this to me? Is it because I've been so competitive to you? Oh you're going down!" But none of them takes her seriously._

" _Give me your card," Luan says, to which Lynn begrudgingly does so. She then shows the card to be a 5 of diamonds. "A villager has been shot. Now, here's the part where you deduce who's the mafia. Vote for him or her, and they will be executed."_

 _Lisa then raises her hand. "I would like to bring in my hypothesis. In the light of Lynn's murder, there's multiple people in this household that find her as a bothersome presence."_

" _Gee, thanks for the insight," Lynn replies._

 _Lisa then gives her judgment, much to the confusion of some, "But I have also considered that it is too easy to deduce those close to Lynn to eliminate her. So, I believe it to be Lola."_

 _In response, Lola retorts, "WHAT? Me? How could this truly appealing face be the killer?"_

" _Because you have the truly appealing face that a killer wants."_

 _Thus, in retaliation, Lola proudly gives her accusation, "Okay, if that's the case, I think Lucy is the mafia!"_

" _Go ahead princess. What's your defense?" Lucy slyly replies._

" _Well, it's simple. You being the roommate of Lynn. You're annoyed of her throwing her ball around," Lola gives her half-hearted but loud defense._

" _While you are still mad that Lynn used up all your perfume for her hockey pads…" Lucy retorts._

" _I AM NOT!" And just with that denial, the Loud children are convinced of Lola being the mafia._

" _Then let's settle this," Luan encourages them. "A vote! Who votes that Lucy's the murderer?"_

 _Only Leni votes for her. "I guess she has killer looks?" she deduces, but Lola bemoans from her defense._

" _Alright, for Lola then?"_

 _From there, the rest of the Louds vote for Lola._

 _Luan then declares, "Alright, so that's it, Lola is executed. And you just killed…" She asks for Lola's card and shows it to be a queen of flowers. "…the only doctor in your village." Just for that position, everyone groans. "Well, what a waste of a PhD. So those alive, you better doc and cover. Hahaha!'_

" _Too soon, dude," Luna remarks._

" _No wonder you got axed off for being selfish," Lana reacts to her sister._

" _I was not going to be selfish because I have a plan," Lola points out, "Because since you guys executed me, you are all gonna die!"_

 _Luan then interrupts to control the game. "Alright, let's continue. Alright, clan, it's night. Close your eyes."_

 _As everybody does so, Lincoln gets his senses ready to see who would be murdered next. His bloodstream brims in anticipation and dread. He lets his mind run, recalling the question: Who could the murderers be? Is it Lisa? Or Luna? Or Leni? Or Lucy?_

That memory (which is eerily parallel to the current case) runs in him subconsciously as it is being solved.


	28. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 11

Back to the major conflict between the Louds and the Larks, arguing still ensues. Both parties fight with their own defenses, point fingers at each other and complain and complain.

Lori and Lois try to interfere to no avail. Even with a makeshift jurisdiction, the order is absent. But as the more compassionate Lois politely insist for the girls to quiet down, Lori gradually reaches her boiling point.

"OKAY YOU FOOLS! I literally expected an Instagram post with me looking at the mountains! But NO, WE HAVE TO DEAL WHO KNOCKED OUT MY POOR BROTHER HERE! AND ALL OF US ARE SUSPECTS! NOW SHUT ALL OF YOUR MOUTHS OR I'LL TURN SOMEONE TO A HUMAN PRETZEL! GOT THAT?!"

The girls are astounded at Lori's sudden burst of rage. But the Louds are more used than the Larks. But as an effect, the girls quiet down.

"Sheesh, people still use the term 'human pretzel'?" Lacy points out.

"Get used to the tyrant," Lisa replies.

Once the girls are all settled and behaved, Lois immediately takes order, "Okay, it's…a night of unexpected events. So let's do this accordingly. Okay?"

The girls agree.

Lois then continues, "Great. As agreed upon, Lori and I will be taking over the case. No one leaves the cabin as of this moment." When she says that remark, the girls start another hubbub. But Lois still continues, "No one must complain. And no one takes authority. We're all suspects, including the both of us."

"Is this going to be a police case?" Lyra randomly asks.

"No, we'll literally not involve the police," Lori answers straightforward.

"I am just saying that they might have the power and skills to do this thing," Lyra insinuates.

"No police, okay?"

Lara then remarks to her sister, "Told you that was a bad idea."

Lori then takes over in the interrogation process, "Alright, I shall call your names. Let's take turns and tell us where you were before Lincoln got knocked out. Lynn!"

Lynn immediately, "I was doing nothing. I was playing ball at the dinner table and I hit that metal thingy in the middle of the table."

Lacy then aggressively confronts her, "Wait, you broke my self-made candlestick?!"

But Lori silences her, "Let's leave that for later. Okay, Luna?"

"I was just playing my guitar, dude," Luna answers.

"Right…" Lori has nothing else to say. "Okay, Lucy?" As she calls her gloomy sister, not a response returns from her. "Lucy? Lucy? Are you…there?"

"She might show up from out of nowhere…somewhere," Lola says.

"Lucy?" she calls her out again.

Luna then raises that concern, "Dude, Lucy, ain't anywhere. She wouldn't just disappear like that."

"Yeah, so as Lana," Lynn adds.

Lyra then intrudes the confrontation, "Guys, Lena and Loui are gone too."

"What?!" Lois reacts. After that comes the sudden discussions by the sisters.

"Order girls! ORDER!" Lori insists.

Lois then asks Lara, "Lara, can you check the kids on the kitchen?"

"Will do," Lara replies as she gets up from her seat and searches for the girls in the next room.

But back to the return of the hubbub, Lexi points blame, "So much for 'not leaving the cabin'. Those girls might have run off out of this mess."

"Will you quit yapping?" Lacy insists. "We're trying to crack the case here."

Suddenly, a commotion of crashing glassware and other objects come from the kitchen. Everybody turns her attention to the matter.

"Lara?" Lois utters.

"I'll check on her," Lyra says.

"Not so fast, I too!" Lacy insists.

But Lois commands her sister, "Oh no Lacy, you sit down. Everyone else, stay. Let's continue discussing the matter."

"Shouldn't we be concerned about that?" Lacy replies.

"Lacy, let's not mess things up more, okay?" Lois insists.

"It's like you're saying you don't care."

"Not that I don't care. I just don't want carelessness."

"Tell Lyra for that matter," Lexi mocks her.

"Yeah, speaking of, I don't why it should not matter that something wrong might be going on there," Lynn says.

"Because we don't things to get worse!" Lori scolds.

Sadly, that is not the case when Lyra shouts, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Too late," Lynn dryly remarks.

But immediately, the sisters head to the kitchen and see the situation. They see Lyra frightened on the floor. But a more astounding revelation is Lara with her body down adjacent to Lyra.

"Lara's dead! Lara's dead! Lara's dead! LARA'S DEAD!" Lyra keeps shrieking.

But Lori snaps her out with a slap. "Get a hold of yourself, woman! We're all in the same black page! SO LITERALLY CALM YOURSELF DOWN!"

Lori's confrontation is enough for Lara to stop shrieking to death.

Lisa then confirms her prognosis, "Relax. She's still alive. She just passed out."

"But there are wounds on her arm," Leah notices.

"But there's one on her forehead," Lisa points out too. "Though kind of a miniscule size for one who is supposed to be knocked out. This case keeps getting weird."

Meanwhile, to Lori and Lyra, Lyra thanks her with open arms and a tight hug. "Oh, what a joy! Thanks Lori!"

"Don't need to literally mention it," Lori replies with feeling Lyra's tightness.

"How do you learn how to do that?"

"It was not me. It was Lola. She tends to help me snap out of something bad. But that came off as literally annoying."

"Yeah, speaking of her, where is she?"

With that, their attention shifts to searching for a might-be absent Lola.

"Lola?" Lori calls on her.

Right on time, Lola is heard screaming back from the living room, prompting the girls to race back to the living room. But it is too late, Lola is knocked down to the floor in the same manner as Lara.

"LOLA!" her remaining sisters shriek.

Lisa then goes to her aid, "Let me see if this is not the case." She checks her pulse and confirms, "Not to fear, our spoiled brat of a sister is still alive."

With that news, the Louds sigh in relief.

"You did haveta say spoiled brat in your statement, sis?" Luna chastises her.

"Just saying," Lisa says.

Leah then notices something. "Look, she has the same bruise marks as Lara. On her arm and one her forehead. But why?"

"Even the biggest mysteries of this pale blue dot cannot be retraced by science," Lisa remarks. "There could be one thing: there's a master criminal in this household." The girls gasp in that conclusion. "And he or she might be still in this cabin." Their gasps get louder after that.

"I'm scared! What should we do?!" Lani asks troublingly.

Feeling the fear of every girl in her presence, Lori suggests, "Okay, since we are so literally freaking out right now, I say we place the bodies together on this carpet."

"Place the bodies? They're still alive!" Lois argues with her.

"You have any other name you like to suggest, Mayor #2?" Lori replies.

At her order, Luna and Lynn carry Lincoln's body, next to Lola's on her right side, while Lacy, Luan and Lyra lift Lara's body and place it on her left.

"Well, we have three victims of unconsciousness," Lacy states the obvious. "This is a messed-up night."

* * *

While the sisters have stumbled on a crime scene, Lena, Lucy and Lana witness the commotion from the air vents above, right when the girls lift the next two victims near Lincoln. Lana is horrified to see her twin sister get knocked out alongside her brother, while Lena tries to cope with her reliable sister Lara victimized.

Lena tries to hold her terror, seeing Lana unhinged, "Okay, let's keep moving."

"No! No! Hope she's not dead! Hope she's not dead!" Lana whimpers. She then covers her face from crying.

But Lucy attempts to console her, "Okay Lana, I hate to be the bearer of comfort. But I feel you. But we cannot stop here. We need to solve this crime. And maybe, we can save Lola."

At her older sister's encouragement, Lana holds her tears and wipe her eyes. "Alright...I never felt this sorry for Lola!"

Hearing that makes Lucy puzzled. "I would never expect that."

Lena then intrudes, "Guys, I think I spot the end of the vents. Let's go!" With that, Lucy and Lana follow Lena on leading towards the end of the vent. But as they reach the end, they only stumble on a enclosure. Lena tries to budge, to no avail. "It's stuck. Looks like the vent is fixed."

"Let me handle it," Lana persuades her. She then pulls out her mini-wielding torch and loosen the enclosure that was bolted. "There you go guys!"

The trio then lands to a dimly-lit room with only a swinging light to make the room visible.

"What is this room? I never knew a hidden room like this would exist." Lena then stumbles upon a familiar duffel bag that has its zipper open. She checks out the stuff inside to identify the owner.

"What you got there?" Lana asks.

"I don't know. It looks someone's belongings. One of our sisters maybe." Lena notes the usual girl's essentials like wallets, bracelets, accessories, tissues, lipsticks, a well-detailed makeup kit and coins. But she suddenly stumbles upon a recent photograph with the back labelled "Royal Woods Comic Con 2018". She switches it to the front to see a very familiar photo of her, Lincoln, Lola, Lana, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lara, Leah, Lani and Loui. While that might not be a frightening discover, given it was taken from a photo booth, what was appalling are the red broad markings. Her body quivers in fear. Her nerves clench to her spine. And her mind senses an ominous music, haunting her ears.

This is enough to shake Lena and flee to the nearest exit, dropping the photo in the process. Wondering what may be the situation, Lucy and Lana pick up the photo to notice that red magic marker X's are placed on the shots of Lincoln, Lola and Lara, the victims of the **Peculiar Case of the Lark Cabin**.


	29. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 12

Lena's POV

It has been dark times here in the Lark Cabin. Cold and rusty, under the dew from the harsh mountain peaks, it had been dark times. Never would I see this night on a shade of dark sepia under a noir film. But here we are, under the frigid lush of the Rockies, solving the Peculiar Case of the Lark Cabin.

But the thought occurred over what happened in "Royal Woods Comic Con 2018". It was not much a big of deal; I mean I can look back on it and think nothing significant occurred on that innocent event. Then how it became a motivating factor to this mystery? Or was it just a red herring? Who could tell?

I try to process my mind over these loose ends. I never realized that thinking about this through would end up walking around the cottage while my sisters and the Louds run the hysteria in their minds, trying to solve what happened to Lola, Lara and most especially Lincoln. They barely notice me. Typical.

But the case is on these rugged hands now. And it is coming together to the most important evidence of all. But it is not enough. The chip on the bunk beds' post? Could be Lani scratching the wood. The jasmine scent? He might have borrowed Lois' ointment. And the photo? Really strange how this case could really be motivated. Might as well fall back to the hardboiled Lena.

My instincts drove me to the nearest sanctuary that would be off any detection: the patio from the kitchen. However, a curious Lucy and Lana reach me, chugging down a mug of hot milk.

"Lena, next time, don't ever leave us like that," Lana tells me. I can hear her panting.

"What's going on?" Lucy asks me.

I just answered, "It's complicated."

"Well, you could explain what's with us in Comic Con this year? So we can solve this case?" Lana insists to me.

"If only you were there, kid, and you were."

I can see from their expressions how they reacted to my hardboiled persona.

"What's with her?" Lana asked.

"She's just acting like a hardboiled detective," Lucy explained to her. "Those old movies that Pop-Pop watches."

"Oh."

With their minds clarified, I told the entire story of "Royal Woods Comics Con 2018".

 _Flashback_

 _It was just a fine Saturday morning when I, Lara, Leah, Lani and Loui pack our costumes for this afternoon's occasion. We were so pumped to participate for Royal Woods' own convention. We have been connoisseurs for Comic Cons around California and nearby states. So, it's no surprise we decided to visit Royal Woods' own Comic Con._

 _We had our Harry Potter vests ready, each for every house. We brought extra bags with us. And we packed ourselves in breakfast, loading our guts so to not get spoiled over lines at conventions. That's an advice we take heart on._

 _We are so excited for this! Even Lani cannot help squirming in excitement. "Comic Con! Comic Con! Comic Con!"_

 _I pick her up and load her in our car. "Easy there, Lani. Save up your energy later when you see those cosplayers and famous stars."_

" _Oh boy! I just wanted to have my sword signed by Link himself."_

" _Well, there are a lot of Links in the convention. Who do you think might be the real one?"_

" _I know for sure. I've seen it on Majora's Mask."_

 _Since Lara is the eldest among us, she coaxed us to hurry it up. "Guys, we're burning daylight. Let's get there before we see a line."_

 _And right on time, my secret twin Lincoln arrived with his wand ready. He playfully casted a spell on me, "Expelliarmus!"_

" _Accio!"_

" _Wingardium Leviosa!"_

" _Prior Incantato!"_

" _Magicus!"_

" _That's not even a Harry Potter spell."_

" _I know. I am just playing."_

 _But as soon as we are about to "internalize" our characters, Lara breaks up the play. "Okay, you two, save the play later for the Hogwarts Quiz. I think they have that."_

" _Alright!"_

 _As we are about to board the car, Lincoln noticed the surplus of Harry Potter-themed costumes we had in the trunk of our car. "Woah, that's a lot of costumes."_

" _Yes, they are," Lara says. "We bought some of them from Universal Studios. It was on demand."_

" _You know, we could try some instead of us just being identical Gryffindor students."_

" _Speaking of which, say would you think that your sisters might be interested in going to Comic Con with us?"_

" _My sisters?"_

" _Yep."_

" _Never thought it that way. Sometimes, they would go for kicks. They're not much of the geeky type."_

" _What are they doing know?"_

" _The usual. Their usual shtick." Contrary to what Lincoln claimed, you guys are just guarding some of the neighbor's kids in Lily's room. Lincoln told me about that since Lori and Leni were supposedly in charge, the rest of you remain there to assist. "Why?"_

" _Well, we exactly have 11 tickets to Comic Con. But Lois went to a baking convention. Lacy is kind of agoraphobic after she blew her interview with Harvard. Lyra is not into conventions. Lexi is with dad, so does Lulu. So, it is kind of a waste if we don't lend these extra tickets to others."_

" _Hmmmm…" I could see Lincoln think about the situation. He thinks this is a good idea. I kind of agree, but I feel someone else isn't agreeing._

 _But anyway, before leaving, he convinced Lola, Luan, Luna, Lynn and you Lana to come with us. "Guys, what do you say we go to Comic Con today?"_

" _Lincoln, we have babysitting jobs, remember?" Luna pointed out._

" _Plus, we cannot just leave Lori and Leni here," Lynn added. But the two had fallen asleep, which placed them in an advantage._

" _Well, the kids are fast asleep," Luan says. "So we can slumber away."_

" _They'll be fine," Lola said. "Let's just go somewhere else not boring this weekend!"_

" _WOOHOO!"_

 _And off we go to the Royal Woods Comic Con 2018!_

 _Before we entered the convention center, we all dressed in our Harry Potter costumes. We ditched the Gryffindor House robes and settled on familiar characters in the Wizarding World universe. I was Potter. Lara was Narcissa Malfoy. Leah was Luna Lovegood. Lani was Hedwig. (It was just a white owl hoodie.) Loui was Hargid. Lola was the other Luna Lovegood. Lynn was Ginny Weasley. Lana was a Horned-Tail Dragon. Luna was one of the Weird Sisters, that rock band from Goblet of Fire. Luan was Dolores Umbridge. And Lincoln was, of course, Dumbledore._

 _We went in like a bunch of winners. It was almost like we are family. It surprised us that the halls have few people in it._

" _What do we do now?" Lana asked._

 _Lara checked the schedule for the convention. "The Harry Potter booth opens at noon. And there will be a showcase of cosplayers after that. So…"_

" _I guess we know what to do," Lincoln hinted to us all._

 _Thus, we dispersed to have some fun: Lara and Luna messed around in the Westeros area. Lynn played with Lani in the ball pit. Leah and Lola got chased by Pokémon fans for some reason. Luan and Lana played some of the booth games, ranging from Westworld to The Room. And Lincoln and I horde some Ace Savvy collectibles. It was just pure fun all throughout. In the end, we all take our group photo in the photo booth, thus explaining the photo we have now._

 _At noon, the Harry Potter area was packed with Potterheads. Every character from the main series to the Fantastic Beasts spinoffs, they filled the whole area. Fan or not, we were just amazed at the expense of the fandom._

" _Wow, dudes. Never expected this amount of fans. Though I do," Luna reacted._

" _Guys look!" Lincoln noticed some familiar faces. "It's the Yateses!"_

 _That's right: the Yates kids. Beatrix (who is Beatrix Lestrange, of course), Belle, Bumper Jr. and Beau, my competition as the real Potter. But it is not just them, they also brought Rusty?! And Rocky Spokes, and the Fox Quintuplets. How they were able to recruit those kids is anyone's guess. But I am pretty it is just contrivance out of the author's knack for using characters on this show._

 _ANYWAY, some cosplayers are called onstage to pose as their characters. It was a fine showcase to show their knowledge on internalizing J.K. Rowling's beloved creations. We also participated but it was mostly Lara and I doing the talking on introducing ourselves and the characters we pose as. There was not cooperation. That goes along with later on._

" _Hey guys, if you want to stick around, there's a roleplaying contest," Lara announced._

" _What's that?" Lynn asked._

" _I think that word explains it all," Luan said._

 _Leah, being the most ardent Harry Potter fan, seemed to be the most excited of us. "Oh! Can we? Please! I always wanted to play Luna Lovegood for real."_

" _Except that I am Luna Lovegood," Lola bragged. I hate it when she does it. "You're just a decoy Luna Lovegood."_

 _Leah became offended by it._

 _Loui defended her. "Hey, don't say that to my sister."_

" _I am just saying what is true," Lola said._

" _But you're saying it bad!" Lani struck bad._

 _Lynn suddenly chuckled at her. Her snicker was loud and clear, but she denied it. "Sorry, I just thought of this joke."_

" _You were laughing at my sister!" Loui argued._

 _I tried to intervene to my closest sister, "Okay Loui, you may toss this aside for a while..."_

 _But she pushed me aside. "No way Lena!"_

 _"You know I've been feeling grudges from you ever since we got here," Lynn claimed._

 _"Now why would you think of that, Lynn?" Lincoln joined in._

 _"So, now you're in their side, Lincoln?" Luan complained._

 _There goes the shouting match that turned to a riot._

 _I just kept my mouth mum since the entire proceedings went predictably as they are. It's still embarrassing to recall._

 _End of Flashback_

But after I end that part, Lana kept insisting for me to continue, "Then, what happened?"

"It is a convolution for this case, lassie," I uttered.

"Well, this case is already convoluted," Lucy said.

Unexpectedly, we heard footsteps coming to the patio.

"Somebody's coming," Lana gasped.

"To the bushes!" I directed them. Thus, we jumped to the shrubs below. It was the second worst idea I had.

We never figured out who that person was…until she uttered, "Things are going to plan. Cabin in the woods secured."

While the words confused us, I recognize that voice. Was it…?

One thing is for sure. Lois, Lori, Lacy, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lyra, Lynn, Lexi, Lisa, Leah, Lani, Lily and Lulu – everyone is a suspect.


	30. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 13

Back to the pack, the clock strikes at 10:00 PM, and the case is still brewing.

But some of the girls are antsy.

"Lois, when can we eat real dinner?" a whimpering Lani asks, tugging her shirt.

"Just hold on a minute." Lois then approaches Lori. "Hey Lors, the kids are kind of stressed. We need to give them food."

"Well, we are all literally stressed out," Lori responds.

"I know how this situation is bonkers. But we cannot let ourselves starve to death."

"Why don't you tell that Lincoln and the rest who are knocked out?!"

"Okay, I don't want to be in a shouting match with you? But you asked for it!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

Leah tries to intervene, "Guys, stop!"

Suddenly, the car alarm sounds from the outside.

"Who went to the car?" Lexi asks rhetorically.

They check each of themselves and confirm that they are complete, the four of them, including the three bodies.

"Everybody's here," Lynn thinks, "Except for Lucy, Lana, Lena and what's-her-face."

"They might be in danger!" Leni yelps.

"Let's go!" Lois persuades them.

Thus, the girls run outside to check their cars. It turns out that the Lark family SUV was the one that has its alarm suddenly turned on. Lois immediately switches it off.

"Must be a cat," Lyra assumes.

Lisa immediately corrects her, "Negative. Why would a domesticated felis catus wander around in such tundra temperatures?"

"And you are right." Lois then notices a particular detail that she knew was not present before. "Look at this. A scratch. Someone must have tampered the door."

"Kind of looks like a rock scratched it," Lexi assumes.

"How would you know such a thing?" Lori asks her.

"'Cause I know such a thing," Lexi braggingly fires back.

As Lois lists down the next evidence, she recognizes that the group is incomplete. "Wait, aren't we just fourteen?"

The group counts off, noticing that their number shrank to 10.

"You're right, we're ten!" Lani says.

After thinking through, Lori suddenly realizes, "Who the heck is watching Lily and Lulu?"

Just grasping it causes the girls to run back the house to see that Lily and Lulu are laid to the floor, disoriented from presumably being abandoned.

Lori and Lois pick up Lily and Lulu respectively, comforting them.

But the girls shift their eyes on the floor to see Lynn Jr. and Leah knocked out as well.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Meanwhile, Lena, Lucy and Lana emerge out of the bushes when they hear the commotion coming from inside. They can only hear the drama that is about to unfold from the cabin.

Lois tries to resuscitate Leah, while Lori slaps Lynn's face into waking up.

"Come on Leah! Come on!" Lois alarmingly encourages her as she keeps doing CPR.

On the other hand, Lori is rather blasé with Lynn. "Her heart's still beating. She's fine." She then drops her back to the floor.

"That's some nasty stuff there," Lexi jokes, which Lori frowns upon.

Lori then persuades a panicky Lois. "Hey Lois, chill. She's just fine. We'll take care of her later."

"Just so you need to know again, Leah has a respiratory defect. And I don't want to see my little sister die from it!"

The eldest Loud sister is genuinely shocked to see an aggressive Lois finally emerged.

"Lori, don't dare make Lois angry," Lyra wants to her. "You don't want to make Lois very angry, especially when it involves our lives."

"Right…noted," Lori responds. She then assumes control on the group. "Okay, since Lois is busy, I guess I will literally run things accordingly."

"And why would you think you are credible enough to lead us?" Lacy intimidates her.

But Lori comes off as the more intimidating. "Take a hike or we'll use you as victim bait."

"I don't know how you will enforce that but fair enough," she reacts.

"Thank you," Lori replies. "Okay, seeing our situation, we have now five victims. And we can't afford any more victims. So, we have to take action and find the mastermind ourselves."

The girls are shocked at that suggestion. "What?!"

"The criminal mastermind is hunting down each one of us. And he may be right inside this cabin. Or she. I don't literally know. The point is if we don't act now, who knows who might be next?"

"But dudes, are you sure you wanna take the risk? What if the mastermind attacks us?" Luna brings up her concern.

"What choice have we, Luna?" Lori retorts her.

"None," the girls reply in unison.

"I suppose you are right," Luna replies.

"So are we supposed to search around the house?" Lexi asks. "'Cause…maybe Lani might be scared. That's right!"

"What? I ain't scared of nothing," Lani contradicts her sister.

Going to the last resort, Lois gets up and takes decor straws from a nearby vase. "I say we draw lots for partners." She then makes similar pairs of straws to ensure each are landed a pair. "Okay, here's the gist. One pair searches outside the front door. The other searches the basement. One searches this floor. The other checks the upstairs bedrooms. One pair checks the kitchen and the patio. And one surveys the vicinity. Lori and I will take the babies. It's gonna be dangerous out there, so be careful. And when there is trouble, sound off the code word."

"What's the code word?" Lyra asks.

"You know it, Lyra," Lois replies.

"Wait, how come you have your own code and we do not," Lori complains.

"It's simple. _Chara_."

" _Chara_? What the world is a _chara_?" Luna asks.

"Oh, I know!" Leni exclaims. "Is it the lizard thing that breathes fire?"

"No, that's Charmander," Lois corrects. " _Chara_ means joy in Greek. And we shout out _chara_ whenever we are in danger. So, I…"

But Lori interrupts her. "Yeah, I don't think so, _chara_. Let's literally just make it simple, like SOS."

"You know SOS will give it away to the mastermind, right?"

"Fine, OS it is."

"OS? You mean operating system?"

"Let's just go!"

Finally, Lois shows the straws to the girl, prompting them to takes a piece. While Lois brings Lily and Lori takes Lulu for fairness' sake, Leni is paired with Lani, Luna with Lexi, Luan with Lacy, and Lisa with Lyra.

With the pairs formed, the girls disperse to their area assignments: Lois with Lily surveys the outside of the cabin's front door, Luan and Lacy search the basement, Lori with Lulu inspects the living room and the lobby area, Leni and Lani gloss over the bedrooms, Lisa and Lyra search in the patio and kitchen area and Luna and Lexi roams around the vicinity, trudging over the foliage area. Needless to say that each of them will have their sources of difficulty.

* * *

As for Lena and company, after waiting for Lisa and Lyra to check the patio, the trio sneaks towards the sliding door and back to the cabin. They easily take advantage of the two searching for traces of the supposed mastermind under a fresh lunar landscape.

"I supposed Lois deduce that a serial killer might have used this area to sneak in?" Lisa brings up.

"It's possible," Lyra reacts. "I just hope it is not. I really don't like slasher guys, and really don't like to see blood gushing out of wounds and stuff."

"Well, I guess you are not welcome to such respectable institutions, like morgues."

Lyra suddenly gasps at the mention of morgues. "Don't say morgues. I can't! That time! It's so bad!" She tries to bite her lip but she feels the need to squeal.

"Oh, the human phobia condition…"

"It's not like you have phobia."

"That's imperative."

Lena, Lana and Lucy finally get to the rest of the victims, whose bodies are perpetually laid to the messy carpet floor.

Lana checks their pulses and confirms their state, "They're still alive. But in kind of deep sleep. I don't know if there is a name like that."

"Limbo," Lena clarifies to her.

"That could do," Lana replies.

Lena deduces from their conditions, "Why would the instigator of all this scheme would knock down this particular people in general?"

"There's some mark in their forehead," Lucy recognizes.

Sure enough, when Lena lifts up Lynn's hair, she notices a bump on her forehead, and so does Leah's. "No, not Leah too." She then lists it down to her notepad. Internally, Lena thinks that the pieces of this elaborate puzzle are too aloof to be pieced together. But she has to, to decipher the case. Suddenly, as she fixes Leah's position, Lena sniffs out a familiar scent. "Jasmine. There's a jasmine scent on Leah's neck."

"What does that mean?" Lana asks.

"Hmmmm…Lana, can you check if the other guys have that kind of scent?"

At her request, Lana quickly sniffs the necks from Lynn to Lincoln. Though the athlete still has a smelly sweat stench attached to her, Lana catches the familiar mix of jasmine draped to her neck. "Can tell. But there's the sweat, which is stronger. Yep, definitely smelled something odd."

"Okay, the jasmine is a motif in this whole case. The only question is where can we find such scent of a jasmine?"

"Maybe in one of your sisters' makeup kits?" Lucy suggests.

"Not entirely," Lena responds. "Come on. To the laundry chute."

With that, Lena, Lana and Lucy sneak to the basement without any detection from Lori, who has to change Lulu's diaper. They tiptoe to each creaking step, leaning their bodies to the lean wallboard.

The cabin's basement is composed of a room filled with gym equipment, an extra room, an entertainment room and the laundry pantry. Thus, it becomes an obstacle for Luan and Lacy to catch the victim. Though, it is less for Luan. When they browse the gym room, she remarks, "Woah, this place needs some heavy lifting. Hahaha!"

"Do you always speak in puns?" Lacy asks her.

"Why? Joke too heavy. Hahaha! Get it?"

Lacy groans so much because she gets her joke. She keeps her attention on groaning that she accidentally pressed the treadmill and stepped on it. She tries to get off of it but she ends up propelling to the wall. "Ouch!"

"You okay?"

"You think?!"

"Well, wooden want to be you. Hahaha. Get it?"

Thanks to that distraction, Lena, Lana and Lucy stealthily sneak their way to the laundry room.

* * *

Elsewhere, Leni and Lani scout around the bedrooms. Leni is more cautious about encountering the mastermind, but Lani remains steadfast.

"When I see that crook, I will nab him, and knock him down for what he has done to Leah! How about you, Leni?"

"Well, I never thought about it," she answers. "Maybe a less harsh version of that."

"Why? Don't you want to do that for Lincoln? Or for your sisters?"

"I know. It's just punching people hurts in the fingernails."

"You don't need to punch. You just need to tackle them. Like…hyah!" Lani demonstrates by leaping to the air, but she lands her face to the wall. "Maybe with a little more care."

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the cabin, with the fog creeping in the night, Lois and Lily stick to the perimeter around the cabin for an active search.

"Okay Lily, if I were a criminal mastermind, and I mean it in the loosest sense, how would I enter a very secluded cabin in the middle of the woods?"

"Poo-poo!" Lily points to the suddenly open basement window.

"Good job Lily! But why is it open?"

The two look to each other, feeling a sense of danger.

As for the other party outside the cabin, Luna and Lexi march through the mushy forest. Luna is cautious with their surroundings while Lexi trudges through it like a safari adventurer.

"Now imagine the peril we could be facing. We can take him down in one hand," Lexi brags.

"Look dudette, I get your gusto. But give peace a chance," Luna says as she looks downward. But as she shifts her head in front, Lexi disappears. "Dudette? Dudette?" She calls her out, to no avail.

When all seems peaceful with no one in sight, Lexi appears behind Luna and scares her, "HAH!"

"AHHHHHHH! Don't ever do that again." Luna persuades her, but Lexi laughs like a hyena. "Dude, we had enough scares for the night."

However, back in the cabin, someone sneaks in the storage room where the fuse box is. And with one switch, the power cuts out. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lois, Lily, Luna and Lexi look back to the now blackout cabin and realize that the mastermind is at large inside. Now, the Louds and the Larks are in pitch black darkness…with the killer?


	31. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 14

SCREAM! The girls go at the top of their innocent lungs.

"Girls, calm down!" Lois tells them. "I'm coming!" Carrying a defenseless Lily with her, she heads back to the cabin and tries to search for the fuse box. "Where could that flashlight be?" She then places her on the coach, where the youngest Loud succumbs to rest.

It is at this point, thanks to the blackout, the girls disperse out of their assigned areas and panic around the cabin.

In the bedrooms, Lani hides under the bedroom as part of routine. She then faintly calls out Leni, "Leni! Leni! Leni, where are you?" Little does she know of a looming figure that enters the bedroom, mortifying her with sound of the creaking door.

Stomp. Stomp. She hears its footsteps. Or his footsteps. Or hers. Lani can only hear the beat of her heart pumping at the very second it might catch her.

Then, at the very moment when silence falls, calming her breath at the huff of the dust, the figure drags Lani away from the bed ad catches her. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lani's screams echo around the vicinity that the girls can only tremble in fear.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Guys, it's from upstairs!" Lacy tells them. But in trying to catch up to the trouble upstairs, she, Lisa, Lori and Lois race to the staircase, but literally bump across each other that they collapse to the first step. Luna and Lexi meanwhile race back to the cabin.

Lyra tries to find the fuse box as well. But while trying to find a light source from the drawer, she does not notice a hidden figure stalking her from behind. And in a thwack, she gets knocked out by the mastermind.

Suddenly, Lulu bawls aloud that it catches the attention of the girls and overlaps the sound of the powerful thwack.

"LULU!"

"What did you do this time?!" Lois scolds at Lori.

"Nothing! Just literally changed her diaper!" Lori replies.

The four arrive to comfort Lily, who secretly encountered the mastermind all along.

Meanwhile, a desperate Lena, along with Lana and Lucy, searches in the basement for answers. Thankfully, the distraction from upstairs allows them to freely search the surroundings. Lana uses her scent instincts to track down any form of evidence that was used in the entire scheme.

"Anything? Jasmine scent, anything?" Lena asks her.

"Not yet," Lana confirms as she tries to sniff up any detectable scent in the air. She crawls on the floor to the walls for anything. Eventually, she crawls to the darker part of the basement.

"Lana? Lana? Lana?" Lena calls her out, to no avail. Concerned, she pulls out a glow stick and finds her.

Lucy on the other hand stays behind. "You go search for Lana. I'll search for evidence around." She moves to one dark room, which is where the pipes and the thermal ventilation control room is located. Looking at the place, it may seem to be Lucy's haven, which she considers so. However, she hears a simple creak from the door. She turns around to do the one thing she never done as a girl strong enough to command and conquer the dark: gasp.

But back to Lena, after searching all of the wall's halls, she stumbles upon the unused janitor's quarters that are found in the leftmost corner. She remembers Lois mention about using the pointless area to store up their Christmas decorations. Sure enough, she lights up the way to see the quarters stacked up the plastic branches of their Christmas tree, along with boxes of decorations and statues. But what she notices is a sudden addition of a trapdoor underneath, piled up with a box of Christmas trinkets above. She tensely pushes the box away from the trapdoor, unleashing a pound of dust. She pulls the cover to see a duffel bag of evidence. Not wanting any compromise, she hides the glow stick inside the hatch to light the bag. And out of it comes the jasmine scent, confirming the traces of evidence to lead to the bag.

Slowly, she unzips it to see some eccentric items that do not resemble any category. She see uncovers a recipe book for Continental breakfast (from Murder Mystery Chapter 1), a snakes-and-ladders board (from Murder Mystery Chapter 4), leftover cookies (from Chapter 5), a soiled boot (undetermined), a red wool sweater which might have belonged to Lincoln (from Chapter 6), an amber bottle of unknown liquid (also undetermined) and the eeriest of them all, the same Comic Con photo that they recover from a similar duffel bag. Previously, it had the faces of Lincoln, Lola and Lara marked with a red marker X. Now, it has Lynn, Leah and Lani marked with an X, and the faces of Luan, Luna, Lana and Loui marked with the numbers 4, 3, 2 and 11 respectively. And the most disturbing detail for Lena, her face was marked with a warning: "YOU'RE THE LAST ONE."

Lena cannot help but gasp at her breath that she covers her mouth in utter shock.

But as she is about to, another scream echoes through the halls of the gothic cabin in the woods.

"It came from upstairs!" Lacy confirms. But again, in a rush, she, Lisa, Lori and Lois race to the staircase, but collide against each other and collapse to the first step. Luna and Lexi also race upstairs but bump against them.

"THAT'S LITERALLY IT!" Lori vents. She then swipes Lois' active phone from her back pocket and uses her flashlight. She marches to the kitchen storage room and switches back the power on.

With the lights on, it is a huge relief for the girls to see their humble abode brightened up again. But the scene does not suggest anything beyond the carnage.

The remaining girls walk back to the living room before they check around the cabin on the latest victims of the case of the _Lark Cabin Mastermind_.

They start in the kitchen where they see Lyra knocked out unconscious to the floor. On her hand is a candlestick. They immediately assume that she retrieved it from the drawer, given the open drawer across her body. The girls just walk off.

The entourage then walks upstairs in despondence. But they are greeted by the cold, unconscious body of Leni lying at the topmost steps. The girls just avoid her body and walk off but added her to the "body count".

They finally stumble upon the bedrooms where the young ones are assigned to and see the body of Lana lying on the leftmost lower bed. Her face was draped on pinkish flesh. But Lois checks for a pulse, confirming, "She's still alive. Gladly, they're still alive but unconscious."

"What about the basement?" Luan brings up.

At her concern, the group proceeds to the openly lit basement. Thanks to its ambient lighting, it accumulates the same ambience that the top floors possessed. However, after going to the gym room, they enter the boiler room to see a knocked out Lucy.

"That's nine of them," Lacy informs.

But Lexi brings up, "But is she really dead…I mean sleeping, because her hair…"

With that, Lori comes near to her face and roams her hand above her hair. She sternly confirms, "Yep, literally she's unconscious."

"But you didn't see her eyes," Lexi notes.

"She. Is. Unconscious," the eldest Loud sister reiterates.

"Nine," Lacy officially utters.

After the routine search, the remaining girls huddle back to the living room, contemplating on their discoveries. They are still in utter shock and confusion over what, how and why they are in a middle of a criminal scheme by a mastermind at large. Certain thoughts enter their mind.

Lori sees Lois at her lowest when she groans about the situation.

"Sorry if I placed you in danger. I don't know what to do," Lois cries, while gulping her huffing breath. She slightly twitches her shoulders, but Lori easily feels the weight of her responsibility.

Lacy and Lisa look to each other in sympathy. "We also admit the failure of properly using our intellect to the investigation," the four-year-old genius says.

"Yeah, I agree," Lacy says, which puts a slight glare on Lori's part.

"What should we do now?" Luan asks. No one answers. No replies after that.

Silence just falls upon the girls, making them unable to assess the extent of the carnage.

* * *

Lena's POV

 _I hear my sisters and Lincoln's sisters rest their bodies to the sofa. I rest my own on the beanbag in the middle room. It was supposed to be the entertainment room, but our situation is anything but entertainment. I decided to don my hard-boiled persona again, instead of falling hopelessness before the mastermind of this operation catches up with the rest._

 _Right now, we have nine victims. And now I consider we have eleven criminals. It is between me, Lori, Luna, Luan, Lana, Lisa, Lily, Lois, Lacy, Loui, Lexi and me as you will, for you might not know if I am a criminal mastermind or not._

 _Later on, I simply sneak from the door and spot Luna and Lacy carry Lucy's hopeless body to the rest of the pile. Poor Lucy, another victim of the cold mastermind. Wherever he is or she might be, the mastermind is still in the cabin._

 _But I keep asking myself, "Who is the mastermind? And why would he or she do this?"_

 _That is when Lana suddenly shows up from a secret hatch on the wall. "Woah, found a way out now!" Her remarks are of intrigue. But I spot her right shoulder do a slight shrug._

 _I confront her, "Lana, where have you been?! I've been looking all over for you."_

" _Sorry, got lost in the dark," she replies. "I track down the jasmine and I just keep tracking until it was all dark. I never realized that I actually open a door that actually leads here."_

" _What is it?" I ask her, sticking my head to the creaky hatch._

" _I think it's a secret tunnel."_

" _Your cabin has a secret tunnel?"_

" _I am not sure. No one tells us about this, unless you are a loner or…" That is when I realize that the mastermind might have full knowledge of the cabin's infrastructure. It is a person I know. I cannot lose my chance on catching the criminal. Thus, I force Lana, "Lana, can you sense the rest of the scent inside the tunnel?"_

 _With that, she inhales the air deeply for a trace of the jasmine. After a couple of, Lana senses something. "Right this way!" Relief._

 _We head to several mazes in the leaky tunnel system, until we end up in a hatch leading to the kitchen, where we saw Lois investigating._

 _Everything becomes clear._


	32. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Part 15

Spotting Lois in the kitchen, Lena uses this opportunity to get through with the case and confront the rest of the girls at ease. She puts on her plastic gloves, improvises a tranquilizer dart (with a straw, a tissue paper rolled in the form of an arrowhead and the unknown liquid she found in the basement), soaks the tissue with the liquid and shoots at Lois. For about one and a half minutes, it effectively knocks out Lois, confirming Lena's suspicion that the jasmine-scented liquid is in fact chloroform.

Lana immediately catches her, while Lena places a micro-speaker inside her mouth near the uvula, setting the plan. If there is one thing she learned from Eastern pop culture on crime-like situations, she could always cite the _Case Closed_ manga for clever inspiration, or known popularly as _Detective Conan_.

"What do we do to your sister now?" Lana asks.

"Let's set her up," Lena replies.

Both of them then place her body on an office chair with armrests, reshape her facial expression to make her look "serious", cross her legs and ensure that her weight is leaning on the backrest. Now donning in back, the two prepare to slide her back to the rest of the sister and start the interrogation of the case.

* * *

Back at the living room, with the fireplace lit, the couches comfy, the walls cobbled in stone masonry, the decorations bringing life to the cabin's family room and the carpet piled with the unconscious bodies of innocent victims, the girls reside in wariness.

Being the only ones left alive and well, Lori, Luna, Luan, Lisa, Lacy, Lexi and Lulu take frustration to their nerves. Their spine continues to prickle in fear, knowing that the mastermind of this operation might emerge sooner and take them over.

Lexi is at a point of breaking down that she chooses the most desperate option. "I can't take this anymore!"

As she is about to snatch the landline phone, the girls stop her. "NO!"

"Lexi, anything but that!" Lacy pleads.

"What freaking choice do we have?!" she scolds her. "Half of our sisters are dead! Kinda…And the killer might be around watching us! Or even be one of us!"

"Okay, dude, you must chill if you don't want the killer to track us down," Luna says.

"HE HAS TRACKED US DOWN! Thanks to Lacy and Lisa not doing their job!"

"Sheesh, blame the investigators, says the one who is noisy," Lisa remarks.

"That's right! Might as well make noise!"

"Wow, she stole your lines. Hehe," Luan quips her, annoying Luna. "But seriously, what is our next option? Lori?"

When Luan looks at Lori, she is walking around worriedly and tensely, with her mind occupied too much of the mystery happening now. Luan snaps her out. "Huh? What?"

"You're the oldest to us. What's our next move?" Luan asks.

Lori stammers her answer. "Let's just calm down and wait for Lois. Okay? She may have answers."

"Yeah, like she will come serve us the answers," Luna reacts.

That is the perfect cue for Lena and Lana to rotate Lois' chair and show her to the girls, as if she emerge in the darkness as a smart figure like Professor X from the _X-Men_ series. Lena then switches her voice modulator on that mimics Lois' voice. (She would tend to use this radio that the 11-year-old tampered to prank her sisters. Only Loui has knowledge of this.)

" _In fact, I have, girls._ "

The girls gasp at her entrance and her posture.

"Lois, that some entrance," Lori reacts. "What's with the pose and the chair?"

" _It's part of the program to solve this mystery._ "

"So, wait you were able to solve the mystery?" Luna gasps.

" _Not in its full entirety. I may just be able to piece the whole case, bit for bit. Now, let's say we retrace our steps from the very beginning._ "

"Sheesh, I heard this from cartoons. How would it work this time?" Lexi brings up.

" _Because we all might contribute to this mess. Shall we?_ "

Thanks to that plea, Lori is able to recall the first instance that the Lark's secret log cabin was mentioned. "Okay, let's go back in time. How about we literally recall that you bring up about an existence of a log cabin in Colorado?! Hah Lois?!"

" _Want to solve this mystery, rather than rant all night long?_ "

The urgency in her voice wins over Lori that she reluctantly slams her back to the couch.

" _Yes, I did bring up about this cabin. But we all agreed to stay here._ "

"What does that have to do with the case here?" Lacy asks.

" _That the mastermind of this operation is among us._ "

That theory baffles the girls. They bring out lots of denials, calling out Lois' (or Lena's) theory as preposterous and aloof. Lena overhears the commotion, indicating a good sign that the girls are now engaged to the case as she is.

" _Now calm down girls. Let's just get to business._ "

At her persuasion, the girls keep their voices down.

" _Okay, let's recall the first party that I arrived here: Lacy, Lincoln, Lani, Leah, Luna, Lily, Loui, Leni and Lucy. Let's see who the ones left are._ "

Lena acting a Lois then enumerates each of the girls. She has her on each of them, especially that one important sister who has guilt on her hands.

" _Lacy, Luna and Lily._ "

"Lily? Why would you count Lily as a suspect?" Luan asks her.

Lori is about to carry Lily and confront that same case at the same time. "Yeah, don't point this at Lily! She may be a baby but she…" But as Lori has her in her arms, she senses something from her baby sister. "Wait, Lily? Lily?! LILY'S UNCONSCIOUS!"

" _Just as I suspected. Lay her with the rest._ "

"I will just put her on the couch. That's better!"

"Okay."

As Lori lays an unconscious Lily down, "Lois" continues lining up the case. " _The case is getting darker. And there might be substantial ties from you two. What did you do when you got down from the vehicle?_ "

Luna then defends herself "Okay, look dude, I just took care of Lily when we got down from the car. She was in her arms."

Then Lexi accuses her, "She poisoned Lily!"

The argument ensues!

"YOU DID IT! I DIDN'T! YOU DID IT! SHE DIDN'T!"

However, Lori blows her whistle, prompting them to stop. "Look, we are guilty. It's either all of you will shut up. Or I will call our folks from home."

With that, the girls settle them, except for Lexi who teases Luna by nudging her elbow.

" _Okay, Luna's case does not make her a criminal. However, what did you after you settle Lily down?_ "

That question becomes a bombshell as she might not have remembered what she did after taking care of Lily. She just freezes in motion, trying to recall that time but going out stammering. "After…well…uhm…I…"

"Hah! Luna can't answer! Suspect apprehended!" Lexi squeals.

"Can we chain this despicable rodent please?" Lisa reacts.

"Let us not jump to conclusions. They are just assumptions." Lena/Lois then confronts her sister. "Let us just move on to Lacy."

Hearing her name makes Lacy rather nervous. "Me?"

" _What did you do after you got down from the car? Didn't you have the keys to the cabin?_ "

"Yeah, because you gave a spare one to me, in case we got here early!"

" _Are you sure you are not taking this to your own advantage?_ "

This bombardment of questions rather makes Lacy anxious yet manic. "Look, sister, if you are trying to accuse me of a crime, which I would not do, then I will…"

" _You will what?_ "

Lacy then freezes on her spot. Deep inside, she might be hiding under her sleeve. She is the only person who might know it. And concealing it further boils up her guilt and her pressure.

" _It is just us here. And I am just trying to solve the mystery. If you claim you are innocent, then why don't you settle down first?_ "

Just like that, Lacy drops herself to the cozy cushions of the couch.

" _Now, I will leave you two hanging. Let us recall dinner time and our first victim, Lincoln Loud._ "

The way she says it makes the sisters tremble in fear as truth bomb might be dropped. It is almost like lightning strikes over the cabin like they are trapped in a haunted house. The clock strikes at 1:00 AM in the early morning, and the darkness crawls back to them.

" _Lori told Lincoln to call all of you girls for dinner. The last batch he called was Leni, Lynn, Lisa and Lacy. Two were victims. Two were left. Lisa and Lacy._ "

"So are you saying it is either Lacy or Lisa who knocked out Lincoln?" Luan asks, sending shivers down the spine of Lisa and an already nervous Lacy.

" _I might not say no._ "

The two sigh in relief.

" _Here is my theory. It is impossible for Lincoln to drink something spiked with sleeping powder, something you came up, Lisa and Lacy. However, with regard to the pigment on his nape, he might have a short episode of dozing off from a chemical taking effect._ "

Lori deduces, "Wait, you aren't talking about…?"

Lisa then concludes, "Chloroform."

"Wait, shouldn't chloroform knock you out at an instant?" Luna asks.

"Oh dear Luna, you watched too many fictional crime shows and never surmise the chemical components of chloroform," the 4-year-old genius reacts.

"Just give the basics."

"It mostly acts as a reagent for anaesthetic purposes. But it has limited use to medicine."

Lacy adds, "However, given its numbing effect within minutes of time, it can be used to…you know…what happened to Lincoln."

"So are you suggesting that the suspect might have used chloroform?" Luan asks.

" _Not just on Lincoln. But on the other girls as well. You might find a same and familiar scent to each of them._ "

Suspicious of this, Lori, along with Lacy and Luan, checks each of the bodies of their comatose sisters. They each roll their bodies and inspect any scent that enters to their nostrils.

After some tough searching, Lori concludes, "Nothing."

But Luan confirms, "Wait." She then takes a deep inhale on the air, sensing a fragrance. "Smells like mom's window curtain. Or…" She sniffs again. "…Jasmine."

Impatient, Lisa inspects the bodies to the catch the same scent. "Agreed. It is jasmine. However, on the nuchal rigidity…or nape."

" _Just as assumed. Lara and Lola might have been knocked when we left them here. Another person might have caught hand of Lynn and Leah. Leni stumbled upon a trap before she can tell us. Lily succumbed to sleep from a lovely fragrance. Lani was unable to get out under the bed. Lyra sunk to the mastermind's trap, right on our backs. And Lucy might have found shelter in the dark, but had stayed long in the dark."_

Lois' ominous notes brings a sense of dread for the coming hour She ends with this hint of the suspect, " _She might be among us. Or most likely not. But she is likely one of us. I now plead for her to step forward and surrender…_ "

Before Lena playing Lois reveals the true culprit, the nerves run to the bloodstreams of the girls.

" _I ask, please, to tell us…_ "


	33. (Not So Murder) Mystery Sequel Ending 1

With conviction in her voice, Lena as Lois blurts out her name, "Loui."

"LOUI!" the girls gasp.

"But why our sister that innocent would be the suspect?" Lacy asks.

" _Glad you asked, Lacy. If she were that 'innocent', why is she not with us?_ " The girls then look around to realize that Loui has not been with them. " _It is an obvious red flag. Wouldn't you agree? That's important to note in studying literature._ "

The next part consists of Lena explaining her hypothesis to the girls: " _For time to time, Lena would always request me to extend our Netflix subscription. I never figured out why they would want that Netflix much. But I soon found out they have been binging over Sherlock._ "

" _But that could inspired it. But here's how it could go. Loui has been so fascinated with floor maps that she liked to mess it up and do her own thing. It is no different when she got a floor map of the cabin. She knew she could turn it to her control._ "

" _When the first party arrived, Loui had to be one of them and would be the one to carry the bags. After all, she is Muscu-Loui. There, I deduced that with the rest busy, Loui might have been planning her schemes all to herself._ "

"How could she have planned something this literally elaborate?" Lori asks.

" _Check out the kitchen, Lori. Push the second drawer._ "

With quite of a hesitation, Lori walks to the kitchen and presses the second drawer. She becomes shocked to see it open a secret hatch to a passage way hidden in the walls of the cabin. "What?!"

The others gasp as well.

" _Yes, a secret hatch is hidden amongst the cabin. Looking back at the stories our grandmother used to tell us, they use secret passageways to escape from intruders. It is a little ironic that it would be used for an intrusion. Loui uses these secret passageways to knock each of the victims and feign their deaths as something physical. Check their napes._ "

Lisa then inspects each of their napes as told, discovering tampered fingermarks that are pressed to their skin and draped in a familiar scent. "Yes, they look unnaturally tampered like a certain person presses their napes too much. And there's that scent. But for what reason?"

" _To cover that their death is not actually by choking but by an immediate chemical reaction to jasmine and chloroform_."

"Wait, was that you were claiming? No wonder I felt a little numbness with that manufactured fragrance."

" _Indeed, her way is to shoot wet rolls of tissue paper or any soft material and shoot it to the neck area of the person or any vulnerable region. Or if trickier, lace the chloroform to other household objects. She staged Lincoln's crime scene to make it look like someone strangled him, down to the fake chip to the wooden post of the bed. The paintball on his shirt is not just a simple paintball. It is with skin-reacting chloroform_."

"Oops," Lexi gasps, making the others glare at her.

" _That's her way as well to knock out the rest of the girls, from Lara and Lola to make it look like they fainted, to Lynn to Leah, to the mix-up with Leni, Lani, Lyra and Lily._ "

"Lily? Lily is not a victim," Luna says, agreed by Luan and Lori.

" _Check again._ "

With that claim, Luna checks out Lily, seemingly in a sleepy position. But her body looks frozen as she scans her, thus confirming the suspicion of Lois/Lena.

"WHAT?!"

" _Indeed, even Lily_."

Luan then spots something from Lily's mouth. "Wait, I saw something." She takes it out, only to recover a chewed up cotton ball. Luan smells the cotton ball to feel a numbing sensation that can only be a result of chloroform. "Oh my…"

" _Loui…Though rest assured that chloroform takes a long time to take effect. But it is too late for Lily, but at least she is still alive. Loui makes use of the secret passageways inside the cabin to take out each of her intended victims, including her accomplice._ "

"Who is her accomplice?" Lacy asks as the Loud family are left stern and speechless.

" _Lucy._ "

All of the girls gasp at shock.

"But why would Lucy help Loui?" Lori asks.

Right behind, Lana asks the same thing. "Yeah, why Lucy?"

" _Could you say bribery? I'll let Loui explain that for you. But Lucy provided the chloroform which she used as a solvent for her sculptures. And Loui infused it with a jasmine scent to hide off the fact that it was chloroform that she used. Loui might have spotted Lucy using the chemical that she blackmails her into using for her deeds. They set up the weapons. Lucy tried to be mum about it. So she kept distance from Loui to tell the rest. But it was too late that Loui take her into her hands in the dark._ "

"Wait, we need more evidence to make this look credible. What do you have still Lois?" Lacy argues.

But Lori has some suspicions over her doubts. "You seemed to defend Loui's crimes?"

"I am not," Lacy stresses. "Seriously, I am not. I just don't like how Lois is so credible."

" _Typical sister. Check the basement in the storage room. There is a secret hatch on the floor. Bring out the duffel bag._ "

With that, Lacy and Luna head to the basement and retrieve the duffel bag that Lena/Lois has been talking about. After trudging much of the Christmas decorations that were stored there, they finally uncover the bag. And in it are substantial evidences of Lois' presumed crimes.

But Lacy presents the stuff to Lois. "Okay sis, I get it why a criminal would use the obscurest materials to craft the perfect crime. But why a snakes-n-ladders board and a recipe book?"

" _Tell me who the boardgames are for and who is the recipe book for?_ "

Lexi suddenly tracks a trail of jasmine that leads to her sister's hands. "You have jasmine chloroform in your hands."

Lacy yelps at that discovery.

" _Yes. Those items are for us. Mine for the cookbook. The boardgames, which is supposed to be a group game, is for all. Loui concocted a perfect lure for us to be knocked in the name of reactant chloroform jasmine. All for a sinister reason. Care to explain to use Loui?_ "

Just as she is summoned, the girls hear a running commotion going to the front door.

"It's Loui!" Luan notices.

"GET HER!"

At full speed, Loui tries to dash to the front cabin door. But Lori grabs her legs to pull her down. The others follow in piling her over. Despite her muscular strength, Loui is having difficulty getting herself out of the pile, due to their combined weights.

"Hold her down!" Lori orders.

Lacy then grabs a rope and ties her hands at the back. "That should do it."

Loui tries to budge, to no avail.

"But why Loui? Why?" Luna asks.

" _How about you care to explain the photo?_ "

Lisa shows the photo to the remaining girls, then to Loui. Everyone is speechless.

Seconds later, Loui explains everything.

"It was really hard when you Louds get around with us. I mean I'm okay with Lincoln. But with the rest of you, I feel so unwelcomed. I took that at heart during Comic Con. You pushed me around so hard that I see you guys differently. So I clung to my sisters. And they acted the same way."

"I could see that in their faces, with all the fighting and arguing that occurred. I was scared when you guys show your true colors." As a result, Loui's sisters become saddened.

"I did my best to address the problem and to fix everything because I want all of us to get along. But all of us just end dysfunctional the way it always way. I got mad inside. But I kept it inside. Until that time of day, it was spring and I ran out of clothes. All of you were 'busy'. But I know you were not. Lara was supposed to do the laundry. So I took the duty. But we all ran out of jasmine detergent. That I know that I could not trust my sisters that much."

"When you mentioned about the cabin, I took that advantage. Because unlike any of you, I know every corner, every frame, every structures that is within every wall. Thankfully, I got on the first party to scan the whole cabin to set up my plan: revenge on you guys. You left all your baggage to me, while you guys go on your own ways. That got me the license to set up the traps in the cabin. I turn to chloroform, mixed with jasmine so the scent will remove the instant numbing. And I strategically place it on items that can be laced with jasmine. For Lincoln's case, I drenched Lana's paintball with chloroform and let her hit it on him. It took a long time to persuade her. After that got executed and Lincoln is dropped unconscious, I staged it in a way that looks like someone knocked out Lincoln to the bed post. I even reddened his nape to make it so. It was so hard to knock all my victims down and make it an illusion that they were knocked unconscious. It wasn't easy. So I called for help."

Out of the girls who are in stunning petrified reactions, Lacy asks her, "So you got an accomplice? Who did you call for help?"

Loui then confidently reveals, "Lucy."

The Loud sisters are shocked at this revelation.

" _Was that the reason why I see you on the balcony, talking to someone?_ "

"I feigned that so I can give a message to Lucy. I had to blackmail her so I can get her to do my deeds and help execute the elaborate traps for Lara, Lola, Lynn, Leah and the rest. To help me get off the list, I had myself hang with Lena, and I also had Lucy drag Lana to the group since she can be lured easily. I always knew Lena was a master of decipher. So I had her be misled to the vents. I also feigned a photo from the Comic Con to make it look like I was a victim. And to cover my tracks, I had to knock out Lucy in the dark. But I was not able to take all accurate victims from the blackout. But I got good help with the hidden passageways."

"But why though Loui? Why you?" Lori asks.

"You never got me enough attention, so I thought this is a good way," Loui replies.

But the girls are having a hard time swallowing that motive.

"Nope, not buying it dude," Luna replies, "There's another reason in that brain of yours."

"Check her pockets."

When Lois/Lena tells them so, the girls check around her pants for possible traces of her motives. Luan finally retrieves one, "I found something." She takes it out, revealing it to be a card that shows another copy of the Comic-Con photo, matched with another picture beside it – a near replica of the photo with mannequins replacing the girls. But there is one difference, the figures point at the person on the center. "What is this, guys?"

Lena/Lois then reveals her deduction in an ominous manner, " _Just as I thought. Loui is using the girls as lifeless mannequins for her photo._ "

All of the girls, now mortified, gasp in that revelation. "LOUI?!"

" _That is why she needed Lucy in the picture. She had chloroform used as a solvent for her items._ "

The remaining girls – Lori, Lacy, Luna, Luan, Lexi, Lana, Lisa and Lulu – cannot believe of this claim about such an innocent girl

In a sort of uncharacteristic manner, Loui kneels to the floor and lifts her arms up, as if she is expected to be cuffed. "Go ahead."

" _No, because there is more needed to be explained_."

 _ **That is how it could have happened**_

 _ **What about this one?**_


End file.
